Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho's move to close down two health facilities in the county has drawn sharp criticism.
A member of Governor Joho's communication team who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, April 30, stated that the decision had been deliberated by the county executive, failing to give further comment.
The governor was called out for the decision to close Jomvu and Miritini Health centres despite the country grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jomvu Member of Parliament Badi Twalib on Wednesday, April 29, argued that the governor was backpedalling the efforts by the national government in the fight against the Covid-19 virus.
He protested the move arguing that closure of the sub-county hospitals located in the rural parts of the county, and within his constituency would hurt members of the public.
“I wish to register my displeasure with the county government move to shut down two health facilities in my constituency,” Twalib pronounced further arguing that he would not welcome the move to transfer medical practitioners.
“We will reject the move to transfer the health officers to other health facilities to give support in the war against the virus elsewhere which will lead to the closure of the two facilities,” he added.
Twalib alleged that the county had failed to post medical practitioners to the facilities, and had employed the pandemic to execute the closure.
He argued that instead of the county government closing down the facilities, it should have heeded to the national government's directive to establish more facilities. This, he argued was meant to decongest county and health facilities.
The two-term legislator argued that decongesting the health facilities was part of a policy by the World Health Organisation.
Twalib made the pronouncements while issuing a donation of Ksh10.5 million to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) during a ceremony held at his Miritini residence.
Mombasa County along with Nairobi continues to maintain the lead on the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country according to Ministry of Health data.
Health CAS Rashid Aman, while delivering the daily Covid-19 presser at Afya House on Thursday, April 30, announced that 7 more people from Mombasa had tested positive for the virus.
"The cases in Mombasa are spread between Old town (4), Bondeni (1), Bomani (1) and Kitunguni (1)," CAS Aman announced.
He, however, urged Kenyans not to let down their guard following a prevalence in cases from Nairobi and Mombasa counties.
