Ambulance bursts into flames in Turkana

An ambulance belonging to Turkana County government was on Friday night razed by fire.

The driver of the ambulance had just dropped a patient at Lodwar County and Referral Hospital before the vehicle burst into flames.

Turkana Central sub-county police boss David Mburukwa said no one was injured during the incident.

Mr Mburukwa said security guards at the hospital saw smoke coming from the vehicle's front part before it suddenly went up in flames.

The incident occurred as residents of the country wait for officials to revamp emergency services.

In August, Turkana County Assembly Speaker Ekitela Lokaale said the devolved unit will no longer investigate a suspected illegal procurement process of Sh50 million fire station and vehicle.

The vehicle was procured during the in 2014/2015 financial year but has never been delivered. The matter is currently before the court. The assembly established that even after it allocated the funds in the 2014/2015 financial year budget, the physical address of the contractor, Winston International Limited, which was to supply the fire engine on May 20, 2016 was untraceable.

According to the agreement, the contractor was to supply the fire engine at a cost of Sh42, 561, 560 and Sh7, 438, 440 was to be to spend to set up a fire station.

Eldoret Senior Principal Magistrate Silvia Wewa recently issued the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission with orders to investigate, inspect and obtain bank statements in regard to a fraudulent payment to Winston International Limited for a fire engine that was never delivered.``````````````