Medical Services PS Harry Kimtai/FILE
Medical Services PS Harry Kimtai has promised to withdraw case against the woman who stormed Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa’s presser.
The PS, who had appeared before MPs at their retreat in Naivasha, on Thursday, was at pains to explain the circumstances surrounding a complaint against 61-year-old Grace Njoki.
MPs pressed the PS to clarify the specific offense Njoki committed when she visited Afya House to express her frustrations over the Social Health Authority's (SHA) failures.
Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wah, demanded clarification on who had filed the complaint against Njoki and her alleged crime.
“We just want to know two or three things. First, who was the complainant for this lady to be arrested? Was it SHA? Was it the ministry? Or was it the police acting on their own volition without investigation, by either SHA or the ministry? If it is the ministry, we want to know what was the complaint against Grace Njoki? He posed.
“The altercation we saw was at the Ministry’s boardroom; if I were you, the first person I would have charged or even fired was the security person.”
Ichung’wah explained that Njoki was just raising concerns, which Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) later in the day promised to address.
“Systems are bound to have errors and mistakes every now and then,” he held.
Kimtai confirmed that the Ministry of Health was the complainant in the case, which sparked sharp reactions from several lawmakers.
“The MOH is the complaint in the case, and the offense is trespassing and causing commotion,” he said.
“In the interest of the image of the Ministry of Health and the public, the Ministry will withdraw the complaint," Kimtai assured the lawmakers.
A statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had stated that Njoki was arrested for causing a disturbance at the Ministry of Health Boardroom.
Njoki was among the patients who visited the Ministry of Health offices on January 15, 2025, to protest SHA’s inefficiencies.
She was one of the women who stormed Barasa's press briefing at Afya House last week, and was released on a Sh10,000 police cash bail.
