Rasanga flags off ambulances in bid to reduce deaths

By LAWRENCE ALURU

Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga has flagged off ambulances to transport patients from sub-counties to the referral hospital in the area.

The governor said maternal deaths will be reduced from the current 691 per 100,000 births to 350 per 100,000 deaths by 2017. In a speech read on his behalf during the flagging off of six ambulances by the deputy governor Ouma Onyango, Rasanga said the mortality rate was the highest in the country.

The governor said the only way to reduce the figure was by improving on the health services in the county.

He said women of reproductive age constitute 23 per cent of the total population and they suffer the highest burden of largely preventable illnesses.

EXPAND FLEET

Rasanga said his government will add more ambulances to cater for the residents living on the island.

“The County government will finance expansion of this fleet of ambulances as well as invest in boat ambulances for the islands within Siaya County,” he said.

Rasanga pointed out that investments in improving access to health care have commenced through construction of new facilities, expansion and equipping of health facilities.

He said his government was in the process of establishing satellite blood transfusion centres in the county, including setting up modern centralised ambulances and referral centres.

Rasanga however, warned that those who will be found mismanaging the ambulances will be sacked to deter others with similar ill motives.

He noted that there are scenarios where drivers use ambulances to ferry bodies in rural areas for their selfish gains, adding that those found culpable will face the full force of the law.

Meanwhile, two more executive committee members in Siaya County Government have been sworn in.

This comes a few days after the county assembly approved their names for the appointments.

Former Hamisi District Commissioner George Okello has been appointed as the Executive Committee Member in charge of governance and administration in the office of the governor. He was the DC for Hamisi Sub County until Tuesday when he was sworn in to hold the portfolio.

This was the position that renowned Kisumu based lawyer Stephen Kopot, who failed to submit relevant documents at the time of vetting, was eying.

Kopot is the lawyer who represented Rasanga in a court petition that challenged his March 4 election at the Kisumu High Court.

Mr Charles Akech, a PhD candidate and lecturer at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology is to handle the Tourism, Information and Communications docket.

Another appointee sworn in alongside Okello and Akech was Ishmael Noor (Member of the County Public Service Board).

Noor is a former deputy Secretary General, Communication Workers Union, Kenya and he has vast experience on issues relating to workers welfare.

While presiding over the ceremony, Rasanga expressed joy that the executive and the public service board was now fully constituted and rearing to deliver services to the public.

He warned that his government will not spare officers who fail to deliver to the expectation of the public, saying service delivery was a key pillar in his priority area.

Rasanga was accompanied during the session by chief of staff Alois Obare and the acting County Secretary Kepher Marube.