Dutch King will visit Kenya despite emails to cancel trip - Spokesperson Mwaura

This after Kenyans online sent about 300 e-mails to the Dutch government, urging them to cancel the three-day-visit citing the country’s prevailing state of affairs. 

The Royal House of the Netherlands had stated that the visit is at the invitation of President William Ruto and represents a watershed moment in the two countries relationship.

Speaking to the press on Monday, Spokesperson Mwaura faulted Kenyans for using social media to "spread lies", warning those trying to bar foreign dignitaries from visiting the country to desist.

"The King of the Netherlands will still visit the country, and we have ensured everything is in place. We should not sabotage national interests," he said.

The Dutch Foreign Affairs ministry has also insisted that the visit is still on as it will present an opportunity to discuss the alleged violations by Ruto's government.

Mwaura further added that the nation has embraced the disinformation culture which has also been responsible for the disarray in the country's health sector amid concerns on the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA).

“The biggest threat to this country is disinformation. Kenyans are consuming 50% of their news from social media and 50% from mainstream media," he said.

“There is dishonesty and serious sabotage from some hospitals. We are on course to ensure all claims are paid. Hospitals should not lie that they are not being paid. Some hospitals want to turn SHA into a cash cow like NHIF, and we won’t allow that.”

Mwaura therefore urged striking clinical officers to remain patient with the government and return to work to avoid risking the lives of Kenyans.

"I still want to ask clinical officers to be patient. We have just fulfilled our promise to doctor interns. They should be patriotic and not sabotage health services. We cannot be moving from one strike to another," 

Clinical officers issued a 14-day strike notice on January 7 for being locked out of the recently rolled-out SHA and a breach of last year’s return-to-work agreement.

They said MoH and county governments breached the return-to-work agreement they signed last year as the union called off their 99-day strike.

The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) CEO George Gibore further stated that barring clinical officers from offering services through SHA is discriminatory.