A video showing a troop of monkeys invading a hospital ward has sparked reactions as pressure piles on officials in the Ministry of Health in Kenya.
The video shared by different social media users depicted the troop of monkeys climbing on the windows and rafters of an unidentified health facility as the patients watched helplessly.
At some point in the video, the monkeys were seen walking casually along the curtain rails above the patients’ beds and even stole food.
Stephen Mutoro, a prominent X user in Kenya, was among those who shared the video to spark a discussion about the management of health facilities in Kenya.
In one of his several posts about the state of health in the country, Mutoro shared the video with a caption stating, “Some of the 50 “free doctors” dispatched by CS Nakhumicha (Susan) land in hospital wards, across the country, through the roofs … Welcome Dr. MonkeyBusiness”.
This was an indirect reference to the remarks by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha who had stated that her Ministry had received a plea from medical graduates seeking free internship opportunities.
Gabriel Ogunda also shared the video stating, “The 50 volunteer doctors who were hired by Susan Nakhumicha to work for free have been spotted reporting for duty today.”
In reaction to the two posts, Kenyans expressed their concerns with some worrying about the safety of patients.
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“Could you please provide further information about the hospital in question? We are concerned about potential risks to patients from aggressive viral diseases, which poses significant public health concerns,” the Confraternity of Patients Kenya (COFPAK)– a registered non-profit organization asked.
Origin of video showing monkeys in a ward
But a search by The Kenya Times established that the video was not recorded from a health facility in Kenya.
Results from a Google Reverse Image Search showed that the video was from a hospital in South Africa and was recorded in March 2019.
The video was reportedly captured by a concerned visitor who found the aggressive troop of vervet monkeys, over a dozen of them, roaming inside the RK Khan Hospital in Durban.
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According to an article by the Daily Mail, the monkeys had terrorized the South African hospital for three months, invading wards and kitchens to steal food while patients watched helplessly.
In the longer video where the circulating clip was cut, a woman was heard trying to scare the monkeys away by shouting at them in a South African native language.
However, her pleas fell on deaf ears as the monkeys continued to roam and hover from one corner to another in the ward.
Coming on the heels of several developments relating to the doctors’ strike, Health CS Susan Nakhumicha has been on the receiving end with doctors and other members of the public criticizing her leadership at the crucial docket.
