The family of three-year-old Leilah Mutenyo Wafula has laid her to rest days after she died following a controversial tonsil procedure at Bungoma Children’s Hospital.
In an emotional tribute, her father, John Kaburu, said Leilah was finally back home in Lwandeti, Lugari Constituency, Kakamega County, but not in the way the family had hoped and prayed for.
“The home that once overflowed with laughter, warmth, beautiful stories, and endless joy has now become a home filled with sorrow, silence, and majonzi,” he said in a tribute.
A home left empty
Kaburu said the little footsteps that once brightened every corner of the house are painfully missing. Leilah’s brothers still carry memories of her laughter, while he and his wife, Norah, are left with what he described as an emptiness words cannot capture.
“How I wish you could run into my arms one more time,” he said, addressing his daughter.
He bid her farewell with a message of love. “Rest peacefully, my beautiful daughter. Your memories will forever live in our hearts. Home will never be the same without you, Mamaa. Tutaonana baadaye, my angel.”
Quest for answers continues
Even as the family mourns, it maintains that it will not stay silent. The parents have demanded an independent investigation into the circumstances of Leilah’s death on October 30, 2026. the conduct of the procedure, the disputed billing, and what Kaburu says was his mistreatment by hospital security after the death.
The family says its grief has been deepened by what followed the procedure. Kaburu alleges he was locked up, assaulted, and threatened by hospital security when he sought answers, and that his daughter’s body was moved to another morgue without the family’s consent. The parents also want to know why the surgery took more than two hours, why a different doctor performed it, and why the hospital has not provided a medical report.
Bungoma Children’s Hospital has said it is carrying out an internal audit of the incident. The family, however, insists on an independent investigation, saying it will pursue the truth through the proper authorities and lawful channels.
