R*******s withdraws ambulance service in Kakamega county

The Red Cross has withdrawn public ambulance services to patients in Kakamega county, piling more misery to an already collapsed public health sector.

The Red Cross withdrew the ambulance service at the close of April 2024 to protest the treasury’s failure to service an accrued pending bill of Sh70 million, dating back to 2023 financial year.

The Chief Officer for Medical Services David Alila was non committal when reached for comment, saying that the issue was administrative and that only his minister or the county secretary could address it.

The county executive committee (CECM) member for health services Bernard Wesonga did not answer our calls or respond to queries send via text messages.

Yesterday, the county secretary Lawrence Omuhaka confirmed the withdrawal saying there was little the county government could do without money.

“We have not received any disbursement of equitable shareable revenue from the exchequer since February to date. Do want the governor to sell his cattle to pay? The service will  be restored when we pay,” he told PD.

The county government  contracted the Red Cross to provide ambulance services for patients in Kakamega in need of emergence medical service for free way back in 2015.

The contract saw twelve ambulances deployed across the 12 sub counties to ferry patients referred for treatment to the county general hospital and other public and private facilities within the neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, Omuhaka says the county human resource has began the process to dismiss 61 striking doctors for absconding duty. The county has also reportdly stopped salaries for the medics on strike.

Omuhaka said only 50 medics, including 35 on study leave and 15 who defied a strike order will receive the April pay.