The fate of one of President Uhuru Kenyatta's definitive project is now hanging in the balance after members of parliament hived off billions from its budget.
According to Business Daily, the MPs slashed more than Ksh8.4 billion from the Ministry of Health which was meant to cater for one of the flagship projects of providing universal health care.
The MPs reportedly demanded that a report on the expenditure of initial Ksh1.4 billion used during the pilot phase be provided first without which the project will be set aside
Universal health coverage is listed as one of the projects under the president's Big Four Agenda umbrella.
The National Treasury had allocated the project Ksh6 Billion which was meant at scaling up universal health coverage whereas Ksh2.5 Billion was supposed to purchase medical supplies.
In an earlier report by the Health Ministry, 80 per cent chunk of the allocation had been aimed at purchasing of drugs and basic medical equipment.
The other Ksh800 million would be shared out by the 47 counties to take care of complicated medical cases likely to arise there.
Four counties including Isiolo, Machakos, Kisumu and Nyeri had already started benefiting from the roll-out as residents received free medical services since December.
Quoting some members from the Budget committee of the National Assembly, The Star reported that they were not going to allow further funding until the report was fully released to the public.
“Why are you rolling out UHC nationally and you have not given us the feedback of the pilot project? These are areas that are fertile ground for embezzlement of funds.
“We feel that if this project – which we all agree means well for Kenyans – is not rolled out properly, then there are chances we will waste public money," stated John Mbadi, who is also a member of the committee.
