Three months after immediate Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso’s death, it has emerged that the family owes a London hospital Ksh2 million.
In an interview with a local media, late Laboso’s widower Edwin Abonyo recounted having received a call from the United Kingdom-based hospital where Laboso received treatment weeks before she succumbed to cancer.
According to Abonyo, the call came as a surprise as the family had tried to clear Laboso’s hospital bill with the help of friends and the state.
“Together with my son[Brian], we cleared with the hospital, so we were surprised to have the bill,” he said.
After learning that the patient died, the hospital has never called again, and Abonyo says the family is in limbo — not knowing what the hospital’s administration will say the next time they call.
Read: Ex-Othaya MP Mary Wambui, Joyce Laboso’s Widower Edwin Abonyo Get State Appointments
“I, however, told them that we actually lost the patient, and since then they went silent. So we don’t know whether they will pursue it or let it slide,” added.
Laboso received treatment at the Royal Madden NHS hospital in the UK before she was flown to India and later Kenya’s Nairobi Hospital where she died on July 29.
Laboso was first diagnosed with cancer in 1991. According to Abonyo, she managed to survive cancer for 28 years. The disease struck her again severely in March 2019.
Abonyo, who says the last three months have not been easy for the family following their loss, took an issue with some politicians who didn’t fulfil their pledges.
“Politicians are notorious liars. In fact, when we heard what they would say, we sometimes just retreated with Brian to laugh,” he said.
Read Also: Joyce Laboso’s Husband Reveals Prophet Owour Visited Her Minutes Before Her Demise
He, however, thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta and some of Laboso’s friends in government who stood with the family in their grief.
“But [President] Uhuru is a good man,” he added.
“The state must be well appreciated. It afforded us much help. Joyce also had numerous friends who were loyal, genuine and true.”
Some of this friends, according to the widower, include Nairobi speaker Beatrice Elachi, CAS Rachel Shebesh, governors Anne Waiguru and Charity Ngilu.
Abonyo recently got a state appointment as a member of the State Corporation Advisory Committee.
Read Also: Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso Dies At Nairobi Hospital
In a gazette notice dated October 14, the President stated that Abonyo will be a member of the committee for a period of three years.
Asked if the appointment was a way of the President saying “sorry” for his loss, Abonyo said; “If it is so, I’m grateful. If not so, I’m even more grateful.”
During one of Laboso’s funeral service, Abonyo, in the presence of the President, stated that he never secured a tender from Bomet county government despite being a contractor and his wife being a governor.
Read Also: Laboso’s Husband Tells Why Cancer Diagnosis Was Kept A Secret, Makes Special Request To Kenyans
To some, this might have been one of the reasons why the President considered him for the position.
Abonyo now wishes that the new Governor of Bomet Hillary Barchok will work to fulfil the late wife’s manifesto in the County.
Of priority, he told The Star, would be the completion of the Mother and Child Care hospital which was at the heart of Laboso, even on her death bed.
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