Offer counselling to Mukumu girls students – Kakamega Woman Rep Muhanda

Kakamega County Woman Mp Elsie Muhanda has urged the government to offer counseling services to the students of Mukumu Girls.

Muhanda said the students have lost their colleagues and the impact will be felt on their mental status.

“As a mother, I condole with the families that have lost their daughters. Teachers, parents, and even other staff in the school need to be taken through counseling,” Muhanda said.

She said that the problems facing some secondary schools in western should be thoroughly investigated.

The county MP said some problems could be a result of one hundred percent transition.

“The government should invest in more infrastructure because we have schools that initially had a capacity of 1000, they have more than double the number now,” she said.

The infections at Mukumu Girls, St Peter’s Mumias, and Butere Boys were attributed to contaminated water and food.

Muhanda noted that managing the number of students in secondary schools is key to managing infections.

As of Friday last week, three students and one teacher had lost their lives to the infections.

The Ministry of Health said the food Mukumu girls high school students consumed was contaminated with fresh faeces.

Director General for Health Patrick Amoth made the revelation in a statement on Friday.

"The Ministry wishes to inform the general public that this disease is likely to be a mixture of E. coli and Salmonella typhi which usually occurs if water sources are contaminated with these micro-organisms," he said.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacteria commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms that can cause food poisoning.

Salmonella enterica typhi is a gram-negative bacterium that is responsible for typhoid fever.

Amoth added that further laboratory investigations carried out on the grains and pulses for aflatoxin turned negative for aflatoxicosis.