Gaucho, whose appointment was met with widespread condemnation and discontent from Kenyans, recently went LIVE on Tiktok as the hospital’s board members toured the ward sections, taking stock of the state of affairs as well as meeting patients and interacting with them.
While walking along the hospital corridors, Gaucho switched his Tiktok account into Live mode, capturing real-time goings-on, as his team walks down the pathways, intermittently looking back as if to confirm if his media team was still recording.
As the LIVE rolls on, viewers can clearly see patients in different states – some are on their beds, others are walking down the corridor while cradling a newborn and another patient can evidently be seen in excruciating pain, as she struggles to lean on a wall, her anguish clearly visible.
At the time of capturing the LIVE, at least 370 viewers were actively following the activity.
Alarmed by the unethical behaviour, X user Gathogo Mwangi wrote, “An equivalent of HIPAA laws should apply in Kenya heavily, patient privacy is nothing one should play with at all. What do you mean you are moving with cameras in a ward!”
Many other X users expressed their revulsion, wondering why it was acceptable to openly film patients, expose them to the prying world, and especially at their lowest and most critically intimate moments of their lives.
“When the governor is a content creator (vagabond) led by a similarly tainted president, then what do you expect on their appointees? Useless! They don’t understand patient’s privacy, zero respect, they just want to trend and be seen in the news and social media. Useless regime!” someone wrote.
Health and gender activist Dr. Bosire Wairimu also joined the conversation, wondering why Gaucho was never briefed on patient privacy.
“Why the Hell is Gaucho in the wards live streaming @MOH_Kenya? @SakajaJohnson anagalau your people should have briefed Gaucho on Patients Privacy. @ODPP_KE @DCI_Kenya this is criminal! @ODPC_KE kazi kwenu! They y’all called us elitist for critising Gaucho…” she wrote.
Someone else wrote, “The problem of platforming charlatans. Since when was this the function of a Board Member? Or any member of the public who is not medical staff, armed with cameras in tow? Anyway, education is important folks. And you do not learn via school only.”
While it was not immediately clear why Gaucho was touring the wards, or what his little trip down the corridors was meant to achieve, Kenyans called out not just the filming but also the seemingly unnecessary stroll around the wards, as patients held on to dear life and nurses rushed up the beds to administer injections and carry out other critical duties.
“Why is he even here in the first place? What does Gaucho’s presence in a female ward help with? These busybodies have no business colliding with qualified nurses on their official duties. Shame!” Robert Mwanza wrote.
Another pertinent concern: “Patient’s confidentiality and privacy severely compromised and thrown out of the window.. This class 6 dropout livestreaming in a ward is degrading patients and utterly disgusting. This is completely unacceptable!”
And yet another: “Privacy and confidentiality are among the patient rights, but when the board members are class 3 dropouts like Gaucho they won’t take into consideration some acts. Soon you’ll be seeing your parents on examination couches being inserted urethral catheters live on cameras.”
Gaucho shocked many after he was appointed to the critical hospital board; many called out his obvious lack of experience, limited education, past street notoriety and brash nature, wondering how someone of such a cantankerous aptitude would serve on a hospital board, of all appointments.
Patient privacy and confidentiality in Kenya are legally protected, primarily by the Constitution of Kenya (2010) and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2019. Health data is considered sensitive personal data, requiring strict, informed consent for processing or sharing.
The Data Protection Act (2019), regulates how health data is processed and protects it as sensitive, with enforcement from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC).
Subsequently, the Health Act (2017), Section 11 guarantees patient confidentiality, permitting disclosure only with written consent, a court order, or when essential for public health.
