Kang'ata moves against private medical suppliers on first day in office

Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata has suspended the purchasing of medical supplies from private suppliers.

Speaking on his first day in office and tour of the county headquarters, Mr Kang'ata ordered that drugs be bought immediately and exclusively from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).

He said county hospitals did not have medicines and patients were being sent out to buy drugs though money is allocated for the drugs.

He said buying drugs from private suppliers had led to corruption as people sought kickbacks.

“It is expensive for patients buying drugs from chemists. The county will purchase medicine from Kemsa, which will do away with middlemen and eliminate kickbacks. This will also reduce funds spent on buying drugs and ensure medicine is available at all public health facilities,” he added.

Mr Kang’ata noted that the county owed Kemsa more than Sh35 million and its accounts had been frozen, adding that talks were underway to unfreeze the accounts and resume the purchase of drugs from the government-owned agency.

The governor also vowed to prioritise the county bursary programme, called Nyota Zetu, so as to ensure the beneficiaries’ education was not interrupted.

“I am going to focus on the bursary programme and ensure those students stay in school,” he said, noting that he had received reports indicating that cheques previously issued to the students had bounced.

He said uncollected garbage, especially in Murang’a town and other market centres, was a crisis, adding that he would also address unpaid salaries.

“The fact that the county employees have not been paid for months means that I am dealing with a demoralised workforce and that needs to be addressed immediately,” he said.

The governor also said that he would focus on the concerns of farmers to help them benefit from their milk and other farm produce as he promised in his campaigns.

“I am developing a work plan so as to effectively deliver services to the people of Murang’a and I will engage all the stakeholders for service delivery,” he said.

Mr Kang’ata was sworn in at Ihura stadium last week as the second governor of Murang’a by Justice Margret Mungai.