Auctioneers stormed Seventh Avenue Hospital in Thika and removed patients from their beds before seizing equipment worth millions of shillings while effecting a court order over rent arrears.
The auctioneers hired goons, and a contingent of police officers is said to have removed doors, blankets, cookers, medical equipment, and food from the facility.
According to the patients, the men found them on their beds, dragged them from their rooms, and left them on the floors before leaving with the beds and other equipment.
A parent whose child is physically challenged and is being treated for a brain tumour said the men yanked the patient from the bed and placed her on a small plastic toilet before leaving with her wheelchair.
The mother said she could only watch as her plea for mercy was ignored.
"They didn’t care that she was sick or that we are human beings. They were heartless and ruthless. With the police helping them, we could only obey their orders," another patient said.
Another patient recounted how she was thrown from his bed onto the floor while nurses watched.
"They had no mercy. They ripped the sheets from my bed, and one of the goons laughed as they tossed me aside like I was nothing," she said.
The hospital itself did not escape unscathed. Doors were smashed, and essential medical equipment was either vandalised or seized in the frenzy.
According to the hospital's director, Dr. Chatambe Chesoni, the auctioneers left with hospital beds, monitors, oxygen tanks, food, cookers, drugs, and other equipment, with damages estimated to be over Sh1.5 million.
He said the auctioneers had not served him with an eviction order, and the invasion was an infringement of the privacy and rights of patients.
"What they did was a criminal invasion. They had no eviction order, and they left the patients traumatised." he said.
"Some have terminal illnesses and could easily have succumbed out of fear. They must be held accountable for that was illegal; I will not rest until justice is served."
The auctioneers were effecting a court order to recover months of rent arrears after a rent standoff between the proprietor and the landlord amounting to hundreds of thousands of shillings.
