Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga left guests in stitches after narrating how mosquitoes saved his marriage years back.
The county chief stated that were it not for the small flies, feared for the spread of malaria, his marriage would have long collapsed.
This was shortly after graduating and living in the country's capital, Nairobi, ready to kickstart his career path.
“I used to drink heavily when I was still young. I had just completed school with no stable job,” Rasanga told the amused crowd.
“I would drink and return home late despite having a young wife who was still new in my house. I would not even eat. I only returned home and went straight to bed, forgetting other duties.”
His wife, the governor recalled, would wonder if the bottle had snatched her a husband.
“What saved me were mosquitoes. In the middle of the night, they would bite and wake me up. They made me lose sleep, and that is how I realised that I had some other duties in the house with my new spouse,” he explained amid applause.
“Were it not for those small animals, my marriage would have collapsed. They made me fulfil my conjugal obligations, and my worried wife stayed. So mosquitoes are not bad. It is malaria that is bad.”
Rasanga who is serving his second and final term as Siaya Governor was speaking during the launch of the Cross Border Malaria Initiative at Akiriamas Primary School in Busia county.
During the event, he took the opportunity to remind Kenyans to join hands in the fight against malaria, which is among the top killer diseases in the country.
According to the CDC Global Malaria Initiative, Kenya has an estimated 3.5 million new clinical cases and records nearly 10,700 related deaths each year. Those living in western Kenya are at a higher risk of malaria.
Cross Border Malaria Initiative is a drive initiated by East African Community member states – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to fight the disease.
The event was also attended by Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Rashid Aman, Uganda’s State Minister in charge of Primary Healthcare Anifa Kawooya and Rwanda’s State Minister for Primary Health Minister Dr Tharcisse Mpunga.
Others were Busia Health chief executive Phaustine Barasa, Health chief officer Jonathan Ino, a team from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), health officials from Cuba and Busia County Commissioner Dr Ahmed Omar.
