Khaemba defends hospital purchase
What you need to know:
- The governor denied claims that the transaction was a scandal, saying he had all the documents showing how the Sh185 million was arrived at.
- Mr Khaemba said his government also bought the building because it could not expand Kitale District Hospital owing to limited land.
- The district hospital is overwhelmed with patients, some from as far as the neighbouring Uganda and South Sudan, he added.
Governor Patrick Khaemba has defended the purchase of a private hospital by the county for Sh185 million.
He dismissed criticism by MPs from the region as baseless and malicious.
Mr Khaemba said the purchase followed due process, with the hospital having been valued by a team of experts from the Transport and Infrastructure, and Health ministries, and the private sector.
They gave it a clean bill of health, he added.
“We bought this 166-bed hospital based on an independent valuation by a team of experts. Our action was based on technical grounds and not a layman’s perception,” the governor told journalists in Kitale.
SCANDAL
The governor denied claims that the transaction was a scandal, saying he had all the documents showing how the Sh185 million was arrived at.
The building is 65 per cent complete and is expected to be used as a teaching and referral hospital.
Mr Khaemba said his government also bought the building because it could not expand Kitale District Hospital owing to limited land.
“MPs are accusing me of overlooking the expansion of Kitale District Hospital yet there isn’t enough land for that. I urge the leaders to get their facts right before insulting us at public forums,” he said.
The district hospital is overwhelmed with patients, some from as far as the neighbouring Uganda and South Sudan, he added.
MPs from the region said they were planning to petition the National Assembly to summon the governor for the alleged irregularity.
They said they had learnt that the building was constructed at a cost of Sh23 million and wondered why the county government spent Sh185 million buying it, more so when it was not equipped.
