The Senate Committee on Health has sounded a warning to the Baringo County government to address systemic issues bedevilling the local Health Department or face dire consequences.
Speaking outside Baringo County Referral Hospital in Kabarnet town after concluding a two-day visit and fact-finding mission, Committee Chairperson Jackson Mandago, who is also the Uasin Gishu Senator, noted with concern an embarrassing state of affairs in selected facilities they toured.
Mandago said the mission follows a public outcry emanating from a simmering crisis in the over 200 health facilities spread in nine sub-counties of the region.
The Senator said that the delegation was able to point out a severe crisis marked by mismanagement, lack of essential supplies and poor service delivery, despite the millions of cash allocated every financial year.
“You cannot leave Kimalel Health Centre, which is among the selected health facilities we have just visited, to rot away and allow patients to travel all the way to Kabarnet town for treatment,” he said.
Mandago, while in the company of other committee members, Richard Onyonka and host Senator Vincent Chemitei, said they were in no way witch-hunting Governor Benjamin Cheboi for defiance to honour Senate summons, stating that their business was purely geared towards improving services in the critical sector.
Mandago also pointed out a discrepancy by the Baringo County Public Service Board for allegedly conducting fresh recruitments of employees, leaving out experienced staff in the health department to work on contracts for over 20 years under difficult circumstances.
“We have asked the County Assembly to do an audit of recruitments that have been done for the last three years and ascertain why those already in service were not confirmed,” he said.
On his part, Onyonka noted that the environment at the County Referral Hospital was unwelcoming due to challenges like poor infrastructure, garbage and other litter around the compound, an ill-equipped kitchen and lack of an alternative source of power.
He said he was optimistic that the budgeted Facility Improvement Fund would be utilised well to transform the Level Five Hospital, which is a central hub for smaller health facilities within the County.
“We want proactive engagements going forward; change those small things that you can change, children are here in the pediatric wards and they don’t have clothes to wear, some of the medicines are not available, we are looking at some of the employees who are being deducted part of their salaries to cover for SHA and people are retiring without getting their benefits,” he said.
During the visit, the Senate Health Committee suspended the Baringo County Health Facility Improvement Fund, which they lamented was depriving smaller health facilities in terms of improvement of service delivery.
By Benson Kelio
