Kakamega hospital staff arrested over theft of drugs

A patient outside the Kakamega County General Hospital. Police are investigating theft of drugs at the facility. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The suspect tried to sneak drugs from the facility.

  • Kakamega Central Sub-County Police Commander David Kabena said a suspect was released on cash bail pending further investigations.

Police are investigating theft of drugs at the Kakamega County General Hospital. A man, who works at the hospital, was arrested trying to sneak drugs from the facility on Friday.

Senior management officials at the facility said they secretly fitted CCTV cameras at the hospital.

RECOVERED DRUGS

The hospital’s management and the police on Friday night raided the home of the suspect, who operates a chemist in the area and recovered more drugs. The value of the drugs is yet to be established.

An official who requested not be named said: “We handed over the suspect to police to investigations since the hospital has been losing drugs.”

Kakamega Central Sub-County Police Commander David Kabena said a suspect was released on cash bail pending further investigations.

“We want to ensure proper investigations are conducted before the suspect is arraigned,” said Mr Kabena.

The arrest of the worker comes when health facilities in the county are facing an acute shortage of drugs due to non-payment of pending bills amounting to Sh123 million.

This was brought out in the supplementary budget for the 2019/2020 financial year, which was approved by the county assembly last month.

SH47 MILLION   

It was reported most of the departments were operating on a lean budget since the amount allocated in the budget for supply of essential drugs was inadequate.

The report indicated that several new health facilities were affected by drug shortage.

County Health Executive Rachael Okumu said: “Regarding shortage of drugs, the government assures the residents of Kakamega County that our health facilities have sufficient essential medicines and medical supplies.”

She said the Health department had ordered drugs worth Sh47 million from the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency.