A family in Tuigoin Centre on the border of Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties is in great agony and facing untold suffering. The family is unable to raise the needed money for the hospital to release their kin. This is after the body of their kin, Bethuel Kipkosgei, was detained by a private hospital in Eldoret for failing to pay a KSh 2.8 million medical bill. Kipkosgei, 20, a boda boda rider, was involved in a tragic road accident in May 2025. He was later taken to a medical clinic within the Tuigoin Centre for first aid before being transferred to Ziwa Sub-County Hospital in Soy and subsequently referred to Top Hill Hospital in Eldoret.
Jepchumba, a mama mboga with two Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, said her son was in the ICU for three months. The hospital bill rose to KSh 3.5 million, an amount she cannot afford. “My son was taken to the theatre where his skull was removed, and he spent four days in the ICU. He came back to the ward for 3 days, developed pressure, and he was taken back to the ICU, where he stayed for 30 days,” the tearful mother recalled. “Later, his blood level dropped, and he needed a blood transfusion, which was done and brought him back to the ward. He again went to the ICU as he had difficulty breathing, and he was put on oxygen. After all the battles, my son rested on July 30,” she added. After his son succumbed to brain injuries and resultant health complications, the agonising family organised a fundraiser in their village, and well-wishers contributed KSh 400,000 that they deposited into the hospital account. The hospital waived KSh 300,000, bringing the bill down to KSh 2.8 million.
Trans Nzoia woman appeals for help to bury her son Making a passionate appeal to people of goodwill, the shaken and disturbed mother narrated how she has battled sleepless nights, hoping for a miracle to happen. “His untimely departure is a big blow to me because I was relying on him to pay school fees for my two children. I just want to bury his body so that I can get peace,” said Jepchumba. The mother who sells vegetables has appealed for well-wosjers to help raise the money for release of her son. Photo: Emanuel Tarus. Source: Original Besides the huge bill, Geoffrey Kemei, an uncle to the deceased, said the family has another mortuary charges that keep rising every day. “It is exactly two months and one day since his body was preserved at the Racecourse Hospital mortuary in Eldoret. The morgue charges KSh 1,000 per day. That means we now have an over KSh 60,000 bill,” Kemei told TUKO.co.ke. The bereaved family is appealing for help from well-wishers to help them offset the huge bill so that their kin’s body can be released for burial.
Why did Top Hill detain body of Trans Nzoia family’s kin? According to Top Hill Hospital operations manager Kipng’etich Ng’eno, they detained the body after agreeing with the family, as they did not have any security to surrender. Ng’eno added that the hospital waived part of the bill, and they are willing to engage with the family to discuss how to settle the remaining amount. A section of Kalenjin artists has been doing an online fundraising to help the family settle the hospital bill. To help the grieving family, use M-Pesa Paybill: 247247 Account: 2080186629218 (Geoffrey Kirwa Mitei). Kiambu family’s son’s body detained in Dubai Previously, TUKO.co.ke reported that a family in Kiambu was in agony after their son’s body was detained in Dubai. The family has been unable to bring their son’s body home over a KSh 70 million dispute. He worked in Dubai for over seven years, and his elderly parents had been forced to seek help to have the body released for burial.
By Joshua Cheloti, Emanuel Tarus
