The construction of the multi-million shilling Trans Nzoia County Teaching and Referral Hospital meant to improve access to quality and affordable health services remains unfulfilled nine years down the line.
The Sh1.4 billion project, with a 400-bed capacity, remains incomplete, with fears that Trans Nzoia residents may not have received value for money.
Governor George Natembeya constituted a task force that probed pending bills and audited county human resources and established how public funds have been utilised.
The task force chaired by former Auditor General Edward Ouko established that the project, whose contract was signed in 2014 and revised in 2017 was to be completed in February 2019. But it remains unfinished to date.
Construction works commenced late 2015 after the controversial acquisition of a private hospital in the outskirts of Kitale town.
“Residents of Trans Nzoia County have not received the intended full value of the hospital. Some equipment was in place, but whose process of procurement, fit for purpose and value for money could not be authenticated,” stated the Ouko task force report.
The equipment included an oxygen plant, kitchen, laundry, morgue freezers, incinerators, and beds among others.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya with health officials during the tour in the new county referral hospital in October 2022. Mr Natembeya had said then that his government would pump an additional Sh100 million to operationalize the multi-billion facility that has remained incomplete for the last 10 years.
Reached for comment on the progress of the report, Governor Natembeya was brief in his response, only stating that construction of the state-of-the-art facility, whose initial cost was Sh732,338,531, was ongoing.
State of the art
Once complete, the hospital was planned to have 10 operating theatres, 40 ICU beds, MRI and a complete suite of diagnostic equipment, a modern laboratory, accident, and emergency section, two linear accelerators for radiotherapy services, 15 renal beds, five bed burns unit and catheter lab, among others.
Former Governor Patrick Khaemba had dismissed claims of wastage of public funds and invited anti-graft Agencies-Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Director of Public Prosecution(DPP), and Auditor General to carry out a forensic audit of the project and institute necessary actions in the event they unearth any malpractices.
“There have been allegations of malpractices and wastage of public funds in this project. We are happy to have other agencies including EACC, DPP, and Auditor General to take a deep look into this project and recommend further action if malpractices are found,” appealed Mr Khaemba, when he released the progress of the proposed hospital before leaving office.
Former Trans Nzoia Governor Patrick Khaemba.
According to the then administrator, the project was being implemented by consultants from Kenya, Dubai, and Sweden and was benchmarked on the Joint Commission International Standards.
“We pumped an estimated Sh688 million in the first phase and an additional Sh733 in phase two with about Sh608 million going to non-medical equipment,” Mr Khaemba explained.
It was to cost the devolved unit about Sh1.42 billion, with an additional Sh2 billion being required for medical equipment and other costs for the hospital to be fully operational.
The Ouko task force proposed measures to monitor the financial implications of the projects.
“There is a need for immediate set up of a pre-payment control process under the Governor’s office to help the administrator take immediate control over budgeting and payments to restore internal control of the county,” the report read.
The task force established that the biggest percentage of county revenue is spent on projects, hence a need to plan and track project activities to attain efficiency and controls. BY DAILY NATION