West Pokot,Kenya: Thirty four new health centres have been set up in different parts of the county in the last two years as a way of improving the people's health, Governor Simon Kachapin has said.
In an interview with The Standard, Mr Kachapin said apart from the health centres, they had also invested in six new ambulances that are offering emergency services in the vast county.
"We have invested heavily on new hospitals to ensure our residents are healthy and can go about their day-to-day activities without problems. We used to have one ambulance in the entire county to carry patients to Kitale or Eldoret hospitals. We now have ambulances serving rural areas," said Kachapin.
He observed that the county is currently grappling with shortage of trained personnel to serve in the health centres and sub-county hospitals.
At the same time, West Pokot Youth Bunge Sacco has given out motorbikes to 120 youths to support them in income generation.
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The sacco's Chapter President Richard Todoso said they used over Sh1.4 million in the programme.
Last year, the sacco bought a similar number of motorcycles, which were then advanced to youths within the sacco in form of loans. Sacco chairperson Leonard Kapsait urged other youths in the region to join saccos and co-operatives so as to utilise available opportunities.
He observed that such investments have kept the youth in other counties busy, keeping them away from crime. "We encourage more youths to join saccos, where they can save and obtain business loans so that they are self reliant," he said.
