Snakes in the operating theater: Waiguru accused of neglecting Kirinyaga health sector

Embattled Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has been accused of neglecting the health sector in her county so much that snakes have allegedly been making their way into operating rooms in some hospitals.

This emerged on Tuesday during the hearing of Waiguru’s impeachment charges before a special Senate Committee.

Dr. Gor Goody, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary, Central Region told the committee that Kirinyaga County is grappling with a dilapidated health care system and the Governor continues to avoid addressing the issue.

Dr. Goody said at Kimbimbi Sub-County Hospital a doctor had to stop operating on a patient to kill a snake that had slithered into the surgical theater.

“We have a letter from the Kirinyaga Public Health Officer who wrote to the Governor informing her that dispensaries are dilapidated, the grass is at the level of the hip, where pests and even snakes are roaming around in the hospital. For instance in Kimbimbi hospital, we have incidences of snakes entering the theater and when a doctor wants operate on you first, you have to be a snake wrangler,” said the KMPDU Secretary, Central region.

She further claimed that the doctor-patient ratio in Kirinyaga County stood at 1:30,000 and that salaries of the health workers continue to be delayed.

“One doctor in Kirinyaga is working for over 30,000 patients and still salaries don’t come in time, they have not been promoted in 10 years and are not taken for specialised studies… Three doctors went for post-graduate studies but they were unprocedurally fired,” said Dr. Goody.

Last year, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) had threatened to withdraw doctors from the Kerugoya Referral Hospital in Kirinyaga County due to the facility’s deplorable state.

The Kirinyaga Governor has howver scoffed at Kirinyaga MCAs, terming her impeachment as unfortunate while rubbishing the allegations of abuse of office and graft as salacious and malicious.

Appearing before an 11-member Senate Committee on Tuesday, Governor Waiguru claimed her ouster was instigated by people keen on settling political scores.

“Impeachment and removal from office was never intended, and should never be based on falsities, innuendo, rumor, hearsay, conjecture, and certainly not malice,” her statement read.

The Governor is facing accusations of using proxies and fictitious companies to award herself and her allies lucrative tenders amounting to more than Ksh.45 million.

She is also alleged to have travel allowances for foreign trips that she allegedly never made.

The Kirinyaga MCAs have vowed to impeach Waiguru again if she is the Senate fails to confirm her impeachment.