Two Governors from Kericho and Bomet Counties are battling over the construction of a Ksh6 billion National Referral Hospital.
The construction of the hospital, which is expected to serve the South Rift region, was set to commence in 2014 but was delayed due to the unavailability of funds.
The two governors, Hillary Bachok (Bomet) and Erick Mutai (Kericho) - together with locals from the two counties, are now divided on where the facility should be built.
The County Government of Kericho donated 100 acres of land for the construction of the hospital in Londiani after it was endorsed in a public participation exercise at Kericho Teachers College.
"Public participation was done and the people said that the referral hospital should be built in Londiani," Kericho Governor Erick Mutai indicated during a rally on Monday, January 2, 2023.
According to the government, the residents of Kericho and the leadership of the county government are urging the national government not to interfere with the initial plan.
"When they settled on Londiani to be the home of the referral hospital, we were there as Londiani was competing with my Soliat Ward which wanted to have the referral hospital at Kapsorop," Soliat Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Albert Kipkoech noted in support of the Governor.
However, residents of Bomet County headed by Barchok are opposed to the construction of the referral hospital in Londiani arguing that it is at the furthest end of Kericho county.
According to the locals, there needs to be a new public participation exercise insisting that they were not part of the initial process that saw Londiani selected as the preferred host.
The development came after the national government set aside Ksh28 billion for another referral hospital set to be hosted by Uasin Gishu county.
The proposed 4,000-bed facility, slated to be one of the largest in Africa, will be established on a 200-acre land at Kiplombe, on the Eldoret-Iten road.
Parliamentary Health Committee Chair Robert Pukose disclosed that Ksh18 billion will be factored into the Supplementary Budget for the first phase of the project, which has been cleared by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
