Okoth Obado's Migori County Allocates Ksh4.1M For Coffins

An image of Okoth Obado
Migori Governor Okoth Obado at the Kibra Law Courts on Thursday, November 15, 2018.
Citizen Digital

The County Government of Migori under Governor Okoth Obado allocated Ksh 4.1 million to the purchase of coffins in the 2020/21 financial year on Wednesday, July 8.

Migori County Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee stated that the allocation would aid locals grappling with arranging funerals for loved ones who succumb to natural disasters. 

Out of the Ksh 4.1 million, the Department of Public Services Management was allocated Ksh3.6 million to purchase coffins with Ksh500 million given to the Department of Disaster Management for the same.

Migori County Assembly building.
Migori County Assembly building.
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"The County Government is given an opportunity to accord its members befitting send-offs. We based our allocation on the Public Service Commission Act of 2012. Every action undertaken is therefore lawful and a replica of what happens in the National Budget," Tom Akungo, Chairperson Budget Committee Migori stated. 

Akungo added that Migori County was prone to natural disasters such as tragedies witnessed in gold mines. The committee further stated that the allocation would also aid local families and families of Migori County Staff. 

This came a few days after counties were tasked to take care of their own Covid-19 patients, with President Uhuru Kenyatta directing Governors to heighten the fight against the virus after he reopened the country on Monday, July 6.

"Firstly, the order to re-open is given conditionally.  Should the situation deteriorate and pose a challenge to our health infrastructure, it shall be ‘clawed back’.  In the next 21 days, we shall study patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease.  

"Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to the lock-down at zero-option," Kenyatta warned. 

As of June 30, the Council of Governors detailed that Migori County had acquired 125 isolation beds as focus shifted to county health systems to manage the virus.

Only 12 counties out of 47 counties have surpassed the 300-bed mark stipulated by the Ministry of Health. 

As of Wednesday, July 8, Kenya had recorded 8,528 Coronavirus cases with 169 fatalities and 2,593 recoveries. 

Hospital beds at a Coronavirus isolation and treatment facility in Mbagathi District Hospital on Friday, March 6, 2020.
Hospital beds at a Coronavirus isolation and treatment facility in Mbagathi District Hospital on Friday, March 6, 2020.
Simon Kiragu
KENYANS.CO.KE
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