By Arnold Ageta
Nyamira County government has this morning rubbished Health CS Aden Duale’s claims that the health system in the county has collapsed, calling them misleading.
Addressing the media at the Nyamira Referral Hospital, Governor Amos Nyaribo accused Duale of blackmailing him after the governor declined to sign a national government initiative, the National Equipment Support Program (NESP).
Nyaribo said the initiative is a financially punitive deal that leaves the county with just 20 per cent of the revenue generated from the equipment.
“I declined to sign the deal because it forces the county to earn just 20 per cent and 80 per cent goes to an unknown owner of the equipment,” Nyaribo revealed.
In his response to Nyamira Senator Okongo Mogeni, who asked about the status of healthcare in Nyamira, Duale claimed that the health system in the county had collapsed.
“I didn’t want to say this, but I have to say it,” Duale started. “Health in Nyamira has collapsed, and it has collapsed because of your governor.”
He continued to say that, “He is not able to make a request to NESP, and if he makes it, we will go and launch the equipment in Nyamira.”
Duale expressed concern that the governor had allowed the most critical sector to collapse because of leadership issues.
“Even the primary healthcare facilities, dispensaries, and healthcare centers’ services are free, which the government is paying for,” Duale added.
Duale said that if the governor signs the equipment deal, the revenue from the health sector will increase—something which the governor says will only benefit the “owner” of the equipment who is well known to Duale.
“The owner of the equipment will get a whopping 80 per cent of the revenue from the equipment, while the county that foots electricity bills and pays workers gets 20 per cent,” he wondered.
According to Nyaribo, the machines consume a lot of power that the county will pay to operate them, while the owner, who does not share the bills, gets the lion’s share of the revenue.
Nyaribo told off Duale and threatened to expose him if he does not stop blackmailing him in conjunction with Senator Mogeni.
The governor, who had gone to inspect the status of the hospital after the Duale allegations, confirmed that the machines are fully operational and in good working condition.
The governor, through the County CEC of Health Dr. Donald Mogoi, said that all critical equipment in the hospital is operational.
“Just because we did not sign the deal does not mean our healthcare system has collapsed. The NESP deal is not transparent when it comes to revenue sharing,” Nyaribo told the press.
He, however, invited the Health CS to visit Nyamira for fact-finding instead of being spoon-fed by Nyamira Senator Okongo Mogeni, who is his rival in the gubernatorial race.
“Duale has never visited Nyamira since he took office, yet he claims to know how our health system works.
He is relying on information he gets from leaders who are after tainting the name of the county in order to gain political mileage,” said Nyaribo.
The governor questioned why Duale has never mentioned positive health developments in Nyamira, such as being number 6 nationally in SHA compliance and number 16 for registering 56.9 per cent of people in SHA.
“SHA owes us more than KSh 454 million, something which Duale needs to explain; why Nyamira is not reimbursed yet they have spent on patients? What interest does Duale have in Nyamira County?” Nyaribo questioned.
Nyaribo said that what Duale mentioned the county does not have, they actually do have, including X-ray machines, dialysis machines, and CT-Scan machines.
For instance, the governor said, in 2025 alone, they served 5,939 specialized X-rays and CT scans, while 5,722 routine X-rays and imaging were done.
The county CEC for Health confirmed that they perform 56 dialysis sessions weekly for renal patients who rely on dialysis to survive.
“Our system is resilient and sustainable to provide services,” Dr. Mogoi said.
He further said that drugs worth KSh 100 million will be flagged off tomorrow (Friday) to various health facilities in the county, courtesy of the County Health Revolving Fund.
The CECM also joined the governor to invite the critics to visit Nyamira health facilities to be served before going public to damage the positive strides that the healthcare system in Nyamira has made.
Nyamira County, which has 116 health facilities, employs more than 1,600 health workers who also offer health services to patients from neighboring counties.
The governor told Duale not to politicize health issues, saying he is not an employee of his, but rather an employee of the people of Nyamira.
“Duale should stop talking from Nairobi and visit Nyamira instead of depending on Senator Okongo, who is using him to blackmail me for political reasons,” Nyaribo concluded.
