Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred and the County Executive have been blamed for failing to use the money approved by the County Assembly to purchase drugs and other essentials for Machakos Hospitals.
As a result, patients have been undergoing suffering including having to buy drugs and other items which should be provided at the hospitals. Several hospitals have had electricity disconnected while contracted service providers like security and cleaners have downed tools for months.
So dire is the situation that patients are missing meals and taking porridge from Maize flour. Over 500 health workers from Machakos Level 5 Hospital held demos over the situation and marched to Machakos county Assembly.
Speaking to Mauvoo News, Kangundo Central MCA who is also the Majority Chief Whip in the Machakos County Assembly Moses Mitaa said that as an Assembly theY approved the budget given to them by the County Executive.
He noted that it was sad to see medics going on a strike because of lack of medical supplies as well as drugs yet the executive has the money to buy them.
“I want to tell the people of Machakos that we approved the budget given to us by the Executive and since the approval, nothing has happened, Mutua and his deputy have gone quiet,” Mitaa said.
“We gave them the mandate for them to use that money in the Health, Roads, and Education Ministries but it is sad to see that nothing has been done, hospitals have no drugs and even as schools are being opened no bursaries have been given by the County Government,” he added.
In January, after a similar crisis in the health sector, the then Machakos Health CECM Dr. Ancent Kituku who has since resigned said that he needed 1.6 billion to resolve the health crisis in the County. This is on top of the 4.3 billion that had been allocated for the 2021/2022 Financial year.
Of the 4.3 billion allocated to the department, over 70 percent goes to wages and salaries. 4.3 billion is a third of the County’s 12 billion budget. Dr. Kituku blamed the increased expenses of the department on Covid-19 where he says they have to spend resources on buying PPE for health workers and at times oxygen.
Kituku then suggested that funds collected in the hospitals should be plowed back so as to enable the hospitals to use them. It emerged that a health act outlining how this could be implemented is yet to be assented by Governor Mutua despite MCAs passing it in 2019.
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