I'll never accept the Sh38 billion medical equipment, says Governor Akaranga

Standard Group CEO Sam Shollei is received by Vihiga County Governor Moses Akaranga (right) when Shollei visited his office on June 8, 2015. [PHOTO/Benjamin Sakwa/STANDARD]

Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga has insisted he will not sign the Sh38 billion medical equipment lease offered by national government to counties.

The governor said the mere fact that Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia failed to meet governors in their recent meeting to deliberate on the same was suspicious enough to make the county bosses worried about the deal.

“To start with, there is no adequate training put in place for various health practitioners in the counties on the usage of the equipment. We do not want to take equipment that will come and lie idle in the county, yet we are paying hefty charges for them every year. We do not have specialists for the equipment in our county,” said Akaranga.

He disclosed this during a meeting with the Standard Group Chief Executive Officer Sam Shollei in his office at the county headquarters in Mbale town.

The governor said they cannot risk signing for the machines so that they can use them for testing on residents as their specifications had not been clearly stated.

“The fact is that we do not have capacity to use those machines. And who is going to pay for them? If the national government says it wants to pay for them for the counties, then they have hatched a plan to starve counties of cash deliberately and claim to use it for the machines’ payments,” said Akaranga.

He noted that instead of the national government forcing equipment on governors, they should give them enough money to be self-reliant.

“Each one of us should be sober enough first and discuss the issue holistically, before we can start pointing fingers at one another,” he said.

The county boss further urged the media to help governors in enhancing public participation in their governments so that Kenyans can get acquainted with the tenets of devolution. This was echoed by Standard Group CEO Sam Shollei, who said there is no way devolution will be killed as it had already taken root and had been felt at the grassroots.

 “If a referendum was conducted, no one will want to vote against devolution. The new system of governance has been felt at the grassroots,” said Shollei.

 GAG DEVOLUTION

He said although people were suspicious of the devolved functions at the start, they are slowly gaining confidence in the units.

Akaranga and Speaker of the county assembly Dan Chitwah lauded The Standard newspaper and KTN for being supportive in fostering devolution and informing the public on its progress.

Meanwhile, Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has asked the Government to invite governors for  roundtable negotiations to solve the stalemate over the healthcare equipment.

He said governors have been left in the dark over the real issues surrounding procurement process of the equipment. “The Government should invite us for talks on the health equipment. We do not have reliable information to enable us accept the equipment yet the Government is forcing us to sign for them,” said Ojaamong.

Speaking yesterday at his office when Shollei visited him, Ojaamong, who has signed for the equipment, maintained the cost of leasing is expensive than purchasing. He said governors are demanding for technical and financial evaluation of the equipment before they are installed in hospitals. “Some of our hospitals do not have capacity to allow for installation of the equipment. It is expensive to lease them for Sh400 million yet we can purchase them for Sh170 million to cut on the cost,” he said.

Mr Shollei said the Standard Group will continue to work and partner with county governments to support devolution.