The Nandi County government is on the spot after 29,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) that were meant for health workers in the county went missing last week.
County health workers had threatened to go on a go-slow over the lack of PPEs to protect themselves from the deadly Coronavirus prompting the county government to source the equipment from the giant textile industry, Rivatex.
The 29,000 missing PPEs came to the public after CECM Health Ruth Koech admitted that the county had only received 1,000 PPEs contradicting Agriculture Cec Dr. Benard Kiplimo Lagat who affirmed that the county has ordered 30,000 PPEs stating that he had personally picked up the deliveries. Koech says even the 1000 PPEs were found to be below standard and rejected.
“We had been supplied with 1000 face masks but we rejected after we discovered they were of low quality and posed danger to doctors and health personnel “ she stated.
According to reliable sources in Kapsabet Referral Hospital, the loss shows just how unprepared to fight COVID-19 the Stephen Sang-led government is. “There is constant negligence in the health department disregarding the lives of medical practitioners in the front line in fight COVID-19.”
Rivatex which is based in Eldoret had been producing face masks since the Coronavirus was announced and has allegedly supplied to them to Uasin Gishu and Elgeiyo Marakwet where none have registered any complaints regarding the quality of the face masks.
The County is also on the spot over the transparency of the supplementary budget, sources say Governor Sang rallied a total of 17 MCAs to pass a drafted supplementary budget document which has to remain wrapped, both players read the sharply contrasting amount of the budget to be channeled in the fight against infectious disease.
Governor Sang maintained that the budget was Sh.181 Million while Cec claimed that it was Sh.130 Million. MCAs in the county say that the total amount approved to cater to the PPEs, recruiting more medics, acquisition of new facilities amount to Sh.313 Million.
