Mombasa county residents want coffin shops moved far away from the Coast Provincial Referral Hospital.
The sight of the caskets, residents say, leaves patients and family members traumatized as they walk in and out of the hospital.
The residents want governor Ali Hassan Joho to exercise his powers and have the numerous casket shops banned from being set up right next to the hospital
A shop owner told a weekly publication that business is booming especially now that they are close to the consumers.
“Kama mtu siku yake imefika ya kufa atakufa tu hata kama tukihamishwa,” a shop owner said.
In 2004, then Health minister Charity Ngilu banned the display and sale of caskets outside health institutions.
But the order was observed for a short while and it was business as usual following a cabinet reshuffle.
Read: Newly Developed Tanda Platform To Run Shops For Small-scale Retailers
Family members have in the past said that the uncouth shop owners pursue them seeking to sell them a pocket friendly casket.
In 2012, the people complained about the display of coffins at the Kakamega Provincial General, Webuye, St Mary’s Mumias, and Mukumu mission hospitals main entrance.
Similarly in 2016, a Kisumu MCA Jackton Onunga sought to introduce a motion to move coffins displayed near hospitals.
“It will restore confidence in most patients because most of the people who are taken to hospital, when they see the coffins, they feel half dead. Removing them from the public places will give the patients hope,” he said.
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