The Kenya Defence Force (KDF) will put up a multi-million-shilling, 500-bed capacity modern hospital complex in Siaya as part of the realization of President William Ruto’s commitment when he visited the county at the beginning of the year.
As part of preparations, a technical team from the KDF headquarters visited the county to acquaint themselves with the needs of the region, where they held discussions with area governor James Orengo and other senior officials.
Speaking during the meeting, Orengo, who was flanked by County Secretary Joseph Ogutu, said that the national government will fund two projects to be undertaken by KDF to the tune of Sh1 billion.
The two projects, said the governor, are the modern referral hospital complex that will gobble up Sh500,000 and the upgrading of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium to a 20,000-seater capacity facility that will consume another 500,000.
“Your arriving here is a dream come true. When we had the “piny Luo” festival, which was graced by President William Ruto and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, we requested assistance for the completion of the stadium,” said Orengo, adding, “President Ruto gave a promise that the national government will undertake construction and completion of the works we had requested to be done.”
Orengo said that interest for sports in the region was high but the stadium, with a current capacity of 10,000, cannot cater to the sports enthusiasts sufficiently.
He said that several clubs and sports associations, such as the Football Kenya Federation and Athletics Kenya, had expressed interest in using the stadium.
On health, the governor said that his administration, working in synergy with KDF and other national government departments, can pull up resources to add to the Sh 500 million released by the national government.
“We had put Sh100 million in our budget and the State Department of Housing, which is undertaking an affordable housing project nearby, had said they can do a Sh200 million wing,” he said.
The proposed hospital complex, said the governor, will comprise an accident and emergency centre with an integrated outpatient complex, a 500-bed inpatient complex wing with oncology wards, a dialysis unit, a high-dependency unit, a simulation room for clinical training and a mother and child complex wing.
By Philip Onyango
