Dramatic scenes were witnessed on Wednesday when Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko made an impromptu visit to the maternity ward of Kangemi Health Center.
The County Head asked the county officials to answer as to why the mothers were made to pay for health services which were meant to be free in county facilities.
The situation irked Sonko to a point where he suspended Health Executive Member Hitam Majevda and County Health Director Thomas Ogaro over laxity.
[caption caption="Governor Sonko making an impromptu visit to Kangemi Health Center on 1/8/2018"]
[/caption]
During the incident, he approached a woman in the ward who had delivered in the facility discovering that she had been charged for cleaning products (JIK).
"Where is the Minister, why are women paying to deliver. Why was she told to buy JIK and medicines when delivery should be free in county hospitals?" he posed to the County CEC.
[caption caption="Governor Sonko with a patient during an impromptu visit to Kangemi Health Center on 1/8/2018"]
[/caption]
Before the director could respond conclusively, Sonko turned to the County Finance CEC, "Where is the Finance Minister, how much did we release to KEMSA... Kshs.58 Million and why are there no drugs in the hospitals?"
It was at this point that he promised that the failing executives would face action, "From here we go to the office, I'm going to deal with you."
Sonko handed the woman Ksh5,000 to get what she needed noting, "Send someone to buy for you."
He gave Hitam and Ogaro some 14 days to explain why Nairobi County medical facilities had poor services and lack medicines.
Here is the video:
[video:]
"I now want to caution county officials against laziness and poor performance. Moving forward, any officer found sleeping on the job will be sent home.
"It is our responsibility to ensure that patients are treated and that those infected get the right diagnosis, treatment and care. Many people suffering from TB do not know it and the disease continues to be the top infectious killer in the world," Sonko explained.
At the same time, the Governor added that as a commitment to his manifesto and President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda, he targeted to upgrade five high volume health centres to Level 4 Primary Care Hospitals.
They are; Riruta Health Centre, Lang’ata Health Centre, Westlands Health Centre, Bahati Health Centre and Mathare North Health Centre.
"We also target to upgrade four high volume health facilities to comprehensive Health centres; Ngara Health Centre, Mukuru Kwa Njenga Health Centre, Eastleigh Health Centre and Dandora 2 Health Centre," Sonko stated.
[caption caption="Governor Sonko unveiling the new Kangemi TB Laboratory at Kangemi Health Center in Westlands Constituency"]
[/caption]
