An inquest into the death of a grade 1 pupil, at Riara group of schools, has begun at a Nairobi law court.
Three witnesses in the case appeared before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Mwaniki to give accounts of events.
Among them were the school principal Anthony Muiruri Mungai, nurse Josephine Atieno Nyamwaya and teacher Humphrey Mugosero Mbai who was on duty that day.
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Atieno who boasts of 30 years of experience in nursing disputed negligence claims, stating that she administered first aid to the boy before calling for emergency services.
“That day I received a call from a teacher informing me that there was a boy who was complaining of stomach pain,” Atieno narrated.
This was after the teacher had taken the whole class to their playing ground when the minor approached him with complaints that he was having stomach pain.
The teacher stated in court that he had to end the physical exercise class and headed back to school.
According to the teacher on duty, the boy was carried by the teacher from the field to the school bus, and they all went back to school where he was picked up by the school nurse.
“I went to pick the boy up and upon examining him, I noted that he had acute abdominal pain since he would cry while holding his tummy. His lower and upper limbs were pale. I did the first aid on him by putting a cold compressor on his tummy and elevated his feet before calling Kenya Red cross services which arrived in about 25 minutes,” the nurse stated.
The nurse further revealed to the court that later that day in the company of the teacher, parents and relatives, received the sad news that the child had passed on at about 3:30 pm.
She concluded that she did not neglect the child and that there were no records showing his medical history.
The school Principal Anthony in his statement told the court that he had been the school head for four years now and on October 31, 2017, he was on duty when he was informed by the administration that there was a child who was very ill.
He went to check on the pupil but found him unresponsive and had to call an ambulance, whereby the medics tried to resuscitate the student.
The school administration immediately alerted the parents and the mother and the boy’s uncle arrived at school, although the boy had been taken to Nairobi Hospital.
Additionally, Anthony informed the court that he had the right to access students’ medical records and for the minor’s case, there was no medical condition on record concerning the minor.
“To my knowledge, no concerns had been communicated in regard to his participation in physical exercise since we normally invite parents and take them through our school physical exercise,” he stated.
During the cross-examination, Anthony stated that as teachers they handled the matter competently by letting their nurse assess the boy, then called an ambulance which rushed him to the hospital.
