5 Boys Die Of Circumcision Complications In Elgeyo Marakwet

28 were rushed to hospital with various symptoms including bacterial infections while others even showed signs of Pneumonia.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Dec 9, 2023 - 14:35 Updated: Dec 9, 2023 - 14:37
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5 Boys Die Of Circumcision Complications In Elgeyo Marakwet
Boys during a past initiation ceremony. /VIRAL TEA KE

Five boys have died and 28 others are currently admitted to several hospitals in Elgeyo Marakwet after a circumcision drive went south.

Confirming the incident on Saturday, December 9, the county’s Health CEC Michael Kibiwot stated that the 28 were rushed to hospital with various symptoms including bacterial infections while others even showed signs of Pneumonia.

According to Kibiwot, one of the 28 boys hospitalised is said to have been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.

A hospital in Elgeyo Marakwet County. /STANDARD DIGITAL

"We have admitted 28 initiates who recently underwent the right of passage, and circumcision and have come into our hospitals with severe Pneumonia, Septicemia among others," he said.

"It is sad that so far we have lost five and as we speak we have one patient in the ICU."

Kibiwot further revealed that a girl who underwent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) had also been admitted with excessive bleeding to the point she became anaemic.

Medics attributed the complications to the conditions in which the initiates have been recuperating after the cut, with some said to have been exposed to extreme cold, resulting in the pneumonia attacks.

The CEC condemned the exercise attributing the horror to the environment where the circumcisions took place, as he urged parents to instead take their boys to hospitals for the exercise.

“I am also appealing to those who circumcised the boys, most of them who are medics to make a point of visiting them in the camps to ensure that they are healing properly and that they are not exposed to unhygienic conditions,” Kibiwot told journalists.

Director of Health Services Dr. Issac Kipyegon on his part blamed the area residents for ignoring health measures while undertaking the initiation exercise.

Following the deaths and admissions, the county tasked the local administrators with visiting the seclusion camps to ensure that the initiates were being well taken care of.

Those with complications were counselled to seek medical assistance.

“I can assure them that they will be treated with respect, professionalism and utmost confidentiality and so they shouldn’t fear to seek treatment in any of our health facilities,” Kibiwott assured.

Bukusu initiates during a past circumcision ceremony. /THE STAR