Uhuru says medical equipment leasing deal will continue

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday said the supply of Sh38 billion national government-backed medical equipment to county hospitals would continue despite stiff opposition from governors.

Mr Kenyatta said the scheme, whose legality the governors have challenged in the High Court, would be rolled out as planned to save millions of Kenyans living in the countryside the burden of seeking specialised treatment such as kidney dialysis in Nairobi.

“Soon, a hospital near your home will be well-equipped. You will not have to travel to Nairobi or overseas for specialised treatment,” he said even as he warned against politicisation of the initiative.

The President’s word came after three months of governors’ intense opposition to the scheme, which they see as the national government’s attempt to roll back devolution by taking back some of the functions legally given to the counties.

The governors have argued that the seven-year equipment leasing deal with private suppliers is unconstitutional because it was done without their involvement despite the fact that health is a devolved function.

The governors are particularly concerned that contrary to the national government’s insistence that the equipment is being supplied at no cost to the counties, the deal will see a portion of their health budgets hived off to service the lease agreement.

READ: County health equipment lease set for Sh4.5bn boost in July

But Mr Kenyatta on Monday insisted that supply of the equipment to Level Five hospitals in the 47 counties is firmly on course after last week’s commissioning of the new units in Machakos.

“Given the consequences of further delay, it is clear that this scheme can no longer be politicised. There is no good politics which prevents X-ray or dialysis machines from reaching those who need them,” he said in his Madaraka Day speech.

Mr Kenyatta said equipping hospitals with the machines is part of his government’s plan to provide universal healthcare with the help of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Kenya on Monday marked 52 years of self-rule after breaking free from the grip of colonialism in 1963. It was during the first Madaraka Day that the country’s founding President Jomo Kenyatta identified ignorance, poverty and disease as Kenya’s biggest socio-economic challenges.

“That long war against disease continues. And we will fight it until every Kenyan has the very highest standard of medical care, for our people are our most important asset,” Mr Kenyatta, the eldest son of the founding president, said on Monday.

The President launched the scheme at State House Nairobi three months ago, but no governor attended the function as a signal of their opposition to the plan.

The list of equipment to be supplied includes modern theatres, surgical and sterilisation equipment, laboratory equipment, kidney dialysis machines, ICU facilities, digital X-ray machines, ultrasound and imaging machines.

The national government reckons that leasing the medical equipment as opposed to buying would help cut costs and increase efficiency because the leasors would bear the cost of routine maintenance.

Mr Kenyatta restated his government’s commitment to boosting the welfare of households he said are bearing the burden of mass unemployment, poverty and even hunger.

Part of the solution has been the setting aside of 30 per cent of all public tenders for youths, women and persons with disabilities to boost wealth and job creation.

Mr Kenyatta said 8,464 companies have won tenders worth billions of shillings under the affirmative action.

“My measure of success will be the moment the presently earmarked opportunities will be exhausted, requiring my government to go beyond 30 per cent to further entrench youth, women and persons with disability in our industrial and entrepreneurial system,” he said.

He asked the special groups to apply for business loans from the Youth Fund, the Women’s Enterprise Fund and Uwezo Fund that have a total of Sh13.2 billion to disburse to qualified applicants.

Mr Kenyatta revealed the government’s plan to buy 40 per cent of goods and services from local providers beginning July 1 as part of the plan to boost local enterprises.

This plan – part of Mr Kenyatta’s buy-Kenyan-build-Kenya campaign – is meant to encourage consumption of locally made products and speed up industrialisation.

The ministry of Industrialisation has, for instance, announced plans to start buying Army boots from local shoemakers and end decades of overseas purchases that have helped inflate Kenya’s import bill.

Mr Kenyatta said the government was keen to reduce the cost of power and cut bureaucratic red tape to increase the country’s attractiveness to foreign firms.

Shortly after delivering his speech, the President commissioned 7,000 National Youth Service graduates at State House Nairobi and announced that they were being deployed to build water pans and bore holes in arid and semi-arid areas, alongside other civil works.

The servicemen and women will work alongside 70,000 youths from local communities who will be hired on a temporary basis.

Mr Kenyatta also announced plans to make primary and secondary schooling free in the next three years as part of the plan to make education accessible to all.

“Just as we have fought disease, so have we fought ignorance. My government has raised its capitation to secondary schools from Sh28 billion to Sh32 billion and for primary schools from Sh14 billion to Sh15 billion,” he said.

He expressed hope that the ongoing efforts to digitise government transactions and records would reduce corruption, which is bleeding the country of billions of shillings.