Makueni County MCAs have threatened to reduce money set aside for the Department of health by 50% following reports that the said funds are misused.
The health committee in the Assembly revealed that drugs in Sultan Hamud clinic which are donated by Makueni County have reportedly being stolen from the hospital and being transferred to a private hospital.
This Committee in Makueni County Assembly that is chaired by Jackson Mbalu made this report after conducting investigation on what transpires in Makueni County hospitals.
The committee further revealed that the private hospital in question is not registered and it has being operating against the Medical Terms and Requirements Act and is owned by former medical officer in Sultan Hamud sub county hospital.
Speaking before the speaker of the assembly, Mr. Mbalu said “the team found some drugs which belong to the county Government in his clinic. The officer was asked to produce invoice or delivery note for the drugs and could not. This could tell that the drugs belonged to the county government. You can see there is an attached list of the drugs at the back of this report Mr. Speaker.”
The committee chair also accused the medical officer of misappropriation of the clinic funds.
“Further, the team found some medical equipment which had a mark belonging to Sultan Hamud sub county hospital. The equipment was forceps for Hospital Theater, blood pressure machine, and tape measure which belonged to the maternity ward” added Mbalu.
This report has angered the MCAs prompting them to propose a 50% reduction of its budget until the health department is able to streamline its operations, be accountable and bring those misusing the funds to book.
The alleged corrupt medical officer was transferred to another hospital in Kaiti ward according to the MCAs after the stolen medical items were found in his clinic instead of being fired and legal actions taken against him.
This however is not the first time Makueni County health department is faced with cases of misuse of public funds and utility as earlier this year stolen medical equipment belonging to Makindu Sub county hospital were found in a private hospital in Makindu Market.
The MCAs have demanded that these cases be forwarded to the DPP prosecution of such public utility thieves.
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