Officials blamed for mishandling babies’ remains
SWAKOPMUND-A Swakopmund family had to halt their funeral plans last week after the remains of their newborn baby, who died shortly after birth, went missing from the Swakopmund State Hospital.
Her funeral was expected to take place on Thursday at the town.
The family was at the Swakopmund Police Station yesterday to open a case of negligence and emotional distress against the health ministry.
The baby girl was named Makena Beauty Mulozi, and was born around 21h00 on Tuesday at the state hospital, weighing 3,4 kilogrammes. But she sadly did not survive.
The family wanted to give her a proper burial. They had made all arrangements, as other family members also travelled from the Zambezi region to attend the funeral.
However, her remains were nowhere to be found when the family arrived on Thursday afternoon with her tiny coffin to collect her from the state mortuary.
The family has since opened a case against the health ministry.
“We are shocked and dumbfounded.
Hospital staff scrambled around looking for her, but could not find her up to now”, a relative of the emotionally distressed couple, Franco Kolofu, said yesterday.
According to Kolofu, they handed over all the necessary documentation to the mortuary staff, who only came back with the dreadful news that Mulozi’s remains went missing.
“Nobody from the mortuary staff knew what had happened to her, and we left with her empty coffin,” he said.
Kolofu added that the parents are in emotional distress, as they are already taking it hard that their baby had died.
“They needed closure, and having a proper burial for her was what they had planned. Now, the family have to put those plans on hold, and we don’t even know how long it will take or whether her body will ever be recovered,” he told New Era yesterday.
He added that they were informed over the weekend by the ministry that statements were taken from all staff members who were on duty at the mortuary so that an investigation could be launched into the disappearance of Mulozi’s remains.
Meanwhile, in another incident, Sandra Ndjao (25), who gave birth prematurely to twin girls on 8 August 2021 at the Walvis Bay State Hospital, is also looking for answers after one of the babies was cremated without her consent.
The babies were born at six months. One of the twins died the same day, and as a result, the family gave the hospital permission to cremate the baby on 9 August.
The second baby, however, also died five days later. The family planned to have a burial for the second baby. However, the baby was cremated without the consent of the family.
Erongo health director Anna Jonas could not be reached yesterday.
However, the ministry’s executive director Ben Nangombe yesterday told New Era that he was briefed about the situation, but had not received any reports on the incidents yet.
“Hence, it will be premature for me to comment as there are doctors, nurses and mortuary staff involved in these matters. I will have to get these reports to fully understand what transpired,” Nangombe said.