Rift MPs tell off Azimio over proposed Sh28bn Eldoret hospital
A signpost at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
What you need to know:
- The project, earmarked for construction on 200 acres at Kiplombe on the outskirts of Eldoret town
- The hospital will be built in two phases, with the first one estimated to cost Sh18 billion and phase two Sh10 billion
- Kesses MP Julius Rutto and his Soy counterpart David Kiplagat have accused opposition leaders of 'malice and politicizing every project' that is expected to benefit Kenyans
Some political leaders from the North Rift region have told off the Opposition over calls to suspend construction of the new Sh28 billion Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, (MTRH).
Raila Odinga's Azimio La Umoja One Kenya has asked the Kenya Kwanza administration to suspend the implementation of the project in President William Ruto's hometown of Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county.
The project, earmarked for construction on 200 acres at Kiplombe on the outskirts of Eldoret town, is supposed to complement services offered at the MTRH. The hospital will be built in two phases, with the first one estimated to cost Sh18 billion and phase two Sh10 billion.
And now some local leaders led by Kesses MP Julius Rutto have accused the opposition leaders of 'malice and politicizing every project' that is expected to benefit Kenyans.
Decongestion
The leaders said that the new project will help decongest the current facility due to the high number of referrals from various counties and even some East Africa Community countries.
Mr. Rutto observed that the region has adequate space and infrastructural facilities that include Eldoret International Airport and an airstrip to facilitate the movement of people seeking treatment.
The legislator said Uasin Gishu County hosts two universities-Moi University and the University of Eldoret-that would provide the much-needed human capital for the project.
Politicised
"It is unfortunate and wrong that a well-deserved project is being unnecessarily politicized. The current facility is congested because it handles many referral cases since most counties have not fully equipped the health facilities," Mr. Rutto stated.
"The current MTRH also serves the entire East African region and is very congested bo0th at outpatient and inpatient areas. The 1,200-bed facility often has bed occupancy rates of over 150 percent round the year. The new 2,000-bed multi-specialty MTRH project is feasible and well justified," stated the first-term lawmaker.
Soy MP David Kiplagat also rubbished the opposition's calls to suspend the multi-billion project, saying that it lacks the basis to reject it.
"The new MTRH hospital that was designed but curtailed by the handshake government will now proceed. Azimio cannot stop the project. They cannot do so," stated the lawmaker.
On Monday, National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi said constructing another multi-billion- hospital in the North Rift which already has Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) is a way to deny other regions, which have no such facilities an opportunity to have one.
"It seeks to continue the politics of favoritism and patronage through which deserving regions have been denied projects while those regions that are well catered for get rewarded all the same because the President comes from there," explained Mr. Wandayi, a close ally of Mr. Odinga.
Undecided Jubilee
In the first term of former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration, the Jubilee government was undecided on whether to construct the Sh28 billion facility or renovate the current multi-specialty 1,000-bed MTRH.
The multibillion-shilling hospital project, which was to kick off in 2015, is still awaiting the release of funds after its approval by the Uhuru Kenyatta government and development partners to help decongest the current facility.
During her visit last week to MTRH, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Wafula pledged the government's commitment to the construction of the new project.
Last week, Parliamentary Committee on Health Chairperson Robert Pukose said Sh18 billion would be factored into the supplementary budget to facilitate the first phase of the project.
The Endebess Member of Parliament said once the level-six facility is complete, MTRH will be handed over to the county government, which does not have a level-five hospital at the moment.
"We shall allocate Sh18 billion in our 2022/2023 supplementary budget for construction of the hospital, which will be a new facility on a 200-acre piece of land," said Dr. Pukose.
