County explains why it leased ambulances in Sh60m dispute

The Mandera government opted to hire six ambulances at a cost of Sh600,000 per month instead of buying them so as to reduce recurrent expenditure, the County Assembly Majority Leader has said.

Mr Robow Mohamed Hassan said the deal cut the costs of procuring and maintaining the fleet.

He denied claims by Nominated MCA Amaldin Ahmed that millions of shillings was lost in the project.

In a statement through the county government communication’s office, Mr Hassan described Mr Ahmed’s claims as baseless.

“The county faces a crisis in the health sector and that extra ordinary situation requires extra-ordinary measures,” added Mr Hassan.

He stated that the cost  of buying ambulances, equipping them and hiring paramedics was higher than that of leasing. He said the leasing cost  caters for the maintenance and salary of the paramedics.

CHEAPER OPTION

“Hiring them  proved to be a cheaper option since the county government was just being set up,” Mr Hassan said.

He explained that they hired the ambulances from the Kenya Red Cross Service as the organisation has a big fleet and if one breaks down, they can replace it immediately.

This would have been difficult if the county government bought the vehicles.

Mr Ahmed had claimed that even though the county assembly had approved a Sh60 million budget to buy new ambulances, Health Executive Hassan Eymoy opted to lease the services from KRCS.

Mr Ahmed accused the executive of flouting public procurement rules by introducing another budget which has not been approved.

But the county health boss has denied the allegations.

Mandera has a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 3,795 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than double that of neighbouring Wajir, Kenya’s second most dangerous place to give birth, with an MMR of 1,683.
“Health is one of our key pillars,” said the statement.