Murang’a Governor, Irungu Kang’ata, has announced that the County Government will waive Hospital Bills for all casualties of Sabasaba protests receiving treatment in public facilities, ensuring that no one is burdened further following the tragic event.
Kang’ata, who was speaking in Murang’a County Referral Hospital (MCRH), where he visited 22-year-old Kelvin Mwaniki, who is admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said that the Hospital Bills for patients admitted in County Government Health facilities with injuries from the protests will be fully waived.
“The County is going to waive all the bills accrued by anyone in hospital as a result of Sabasaba demonstrations,” he said.
Kang’ata castigated the police for using excessive force when dealing with protestors, noting that in the past, demonstrations in Murang’a have been largely peaceful.
“We have never had a lethal confrontation and we have celebrated peaceful demonstrations across Murang’a, which is provided for under the Constitution,” he said.
“However, during the Sabasaba demonstrations, things took a negative trajectory because we recorded four fatalities across the County,” he added.
He revealed that other than the one person admitted at the MCRH, there are other persons at Kenyatta National Hospital, Githumu AIC Hospital and Aberdare Modern Hospital.
Henry Mbote, brother to Kelvin Mwaniki, said his brother, who is a boda boda rider, was shot twice in the abdomen during the protests.
He condemned what he termed as excessive use of force and called upon the police to serve Kenyans by protecting lives and property.
Peter Musyoki, a resident of Kangari, whose brother Julius Muli succumbed to injuries sustained during the Sabasaba protests, called for justice and an end to the use of brutal force during protests.
30-year-old Muli was shot at Kangari and he later passed on while receiving treatment at MCRH.
The Governor later visited Kangari Health Centre and Githumu Hospitals, where he met with the injured who are still hospitalised, offering words of encouragement and assurance of the county government’s support.
Governor Kang’ata celebrated the County Government Emergency Response team, which rushed to help in the time of crisis.
“The Sabasaba chaos was quite intense at Kangari; were it not for that fast evacuation by the medical staff, more people would have died,” he observed.
Meanwhile, the Governor also toured a vandalised supermarket, where shelves were overturned, goods looted and the premises left in disarray.
He urged local residents to embrace dialogue over violence and focus on building a united and progressive County.
By Purity Mugo and Grace Njumwa
