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"content": "Standing Orders, I beg to make the following Statement on the Managed Equipment Service (MES) for Meru Level 5 Hospital in Meru County. As the Senator for Meru County, I have learnt with shock and disbelieve that despite the high incidents of death of our people through non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes, the Governor of Meru, Peter Munya, has frustrated all the efforts by the Ministry of Health to install modern theatre equipment, surgical instruments, renal unit, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility and radiology equipment in Meru Level 5 hospital, which is also a referral and training hospital for the region. The people of Meru stand to lose medical equipment worth Kshs460 million of leased equipment for Meru Level 5 Hospital by the national Government. They will continue to incur huge financial costs of treatment and management of cancer and diabetes at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), private hospitals in Nairobi and hospitals in India, not to mention thousands of the poor people who will continue to suffer and die in pain at home for lack of access to these medical services. It will be remembered that after several months of stubborn refusal to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the provision of medical equipment by the Ministry of Health, Gov. Peter Munya finally bowed to public pressure and signed the MoU on 31st July, 2015. Meru Level 5 hospital was among the first five hospitals in Kenya in which the MES programme was to be piloted and completed by May, 2015 alongside Machakos, Nakuru, Homa Bay and Kakamega hospitals, but the governor has since frustrated the pilot project. On 21st September, 2015, the Ministry of Health wrote to the governor to constitute a hospital implementation committee, which would facilitate the Ministry to install the equipment at the Meru Level 5 Hospital, but no such committee has been formed to date. On 2nd October, 2015, the Ministry of Health project manager, Mr. Morris Karaini, and his team travelled to Meru with an intention of meeting the governor, but they only met the County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Health, Dr. William Muraah, who was openly hostile to them. He told them not to install the equipment at the Meru Level 5 Hospital, but at Kanyakine Hospital, which according to the project manager and his team, was unsuitable due to poor, inadequate physical infrastructure and lack of qualified staff. In any event, no reason was given why the equipment could not be installed in Meru Level 5 Hospital. To date, the governor has completely refused to meet the Ministry of Health team to discuss the matter and Meru County stands to be the only county, out of the 47 counties in Kenya, to miss out on this critical MES project, which according to the Ministry of Health has a deadline of 30th June, 2016. It is a great shame, embarrassment and an insult to the people of Meru that after rejecting and frustrating the MES project, which can alter the cancer and diabetes trajectory in Meru County, Gov. Peter Munya is busy attacking President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Government for non-delivery and politicking from village to village, under the guise and smokescreen of cancer screening. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as the Senator for Meru County, I shall not sit and watch our people suffer and die of cancer and diabetes, just to satisfy the bloated ego of this governor. I shall take a bold step to ensure that the said equipment is delivered to the Meru Level 5 Hospital, as agreed between the Ministry and the county government, if the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}