A decision by the Nakuru County Government to reject a fully functional kidney dialysis machine has left many baffled as patients in dire need of dialysis continue to live in anguish.
The machine was reportedly donated to the Molo Sub-County Hospital by Peter Mwangi, a Molo town native currently based in the US.
“My wife and I decided to buy and ship the equipment to Kenya and donate it to Molo hospital so as to save lives,” he told the Daily Nation.
Mr Mwangi went on to reveal that he was moved to donate the machine worth millions as he had lost his mother who suffered from diabetes resulting in renal failure.
He went on to air his sense of bewilderment and disappointment over the governments’ decision to reject the machine.
Patients in dire need of its life-saving services were all currently forced to travel 40kms to the Nakuru Level Five Referral hospital to access a similar machine.
On their part, the Nakuru County, through the health executive – Zakayo Gichuki, stated that the machine in question was old and of low quality, adding that Mr Mwangi should have conferred with the county officials before making his donation.
“The county has its own budget and everything purchased should be of high quality and of the right standards. There was no way we could accept a low, reconditioned and second-hand dialysis unit in the name of a gift,” Gichuki asserted.
The county executive went on to state that it would supply new dialysis units in the coming year at the Molo hospital to service the hundreds of patients flocking Nakuru Level 5 Hospital which currently has just two such machines.
The dejected donor stated that the fully functional machine has been lying idle at one of his friend’s home for over two months.
