Residents of Elgeyo Marakwet county have been thrown into mourning following the deaths of 5 boys who recently underwent circumcision.
28 others who also underwent the rite of passage have also ended up in hospitals with one of them in a critical condition, that has seen him get admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.
The County’s Health CEC Michael Kibiwott has linked the incident to the unsuitable environment in which the initiation process was carried out.
Kibiwott has asked parents to be vigilant and seek medical attention for their children if they encounter any sign of adverse reaction or illness.
“In our various hospitals we have admitted initiates who have recently the rights of passage or circumcision and have come into our hospital with severe, pneumonia, severe septicemia amongst others,” he said.
“We are not supposed to lose any lives because the procedure itself is a medical procedure but because of the conditions surrounding the procedure and surrounding the care following the procedure which has exposed the initiate’s into this condition,” Dr. Isack Kipyegon, Director of medical services, on the other hand said.
