Kenya National Union of Nurses Secretary General Seth Panyako has slammed the Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, saying his predecessors did a better job.
In the conference call with Citizen TV, on April 8, Panyako complained about the failure of the government to provide enough personal protective equipment (PPE's) to nurses and the awarding of Ksh100 million to entertainers as opposed to medics.
He lamented that the government is not catering for nurses in the country, "The government seems to be ignoring health workers, they are just waking up and making directives without looking at the welfare of the nurses.
"Look at what the president did the other day, he gave money to artists musicians. Perhaps Jaguar (Starehe MP) is a friend of the president and that's why his area of profession received Ksh100 million, what was there for health workers? Nothing."
Nurses in Kakamega and Kilifi ran away when patients suffering from Covid-19 symptoms checked into health facilities in the areas due to lack of PPE's.
A clinical officer in Ngara, Nairobi became Kenya's first health worker to contract Coronavirus while in the line of duty.
The senior clinical officer came into contact with a patient who later tested positive for Covid-19 and had not been supplied with protective clothing.
Some nurses who are working at Kenyatta National Hospital were also quarantined after coming into contact with a six-year-old child who later died of Covid-19.
The Public Service Commission called for the listing of 5,550 health workers of various cadres as part of efforts to complement the workforce on the battlefront against Coronavirus.
Panyako slammed Kagwe, claiming his predecessors did a better job, "I had high hopes in honourable Mutahi Kagwe when he was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Health but I'm getting disappointed in what he is doing."
"In fact, I would say the former minister who is the minister for transport today and the one who is at World Health Organization were doing much better than the immediate former minister for health and the current one," he added.
James Mwangi who is now the Transport CS served as the health CS from 2013 to 2015 when he was moved to his current docket.
As of Tuesday, April 7, the number of positive Covid-19 cases stood at 172 while six had lost their lives.
