The Government has taken over the construction of the Kakamega Teaching and Referral Hospital and when completed will upgrade it to a national referral facility, President William Ruto has said.
The President explained that government has allocated Ksh 1 billion to the project, which is expected to be completed in 10 months.
He pointed out that the decision to elevate the proposed hospital to a national referral facility in Kakamega County is to serve the wider Western region.
“I have told my brother Governor Fernandes Barasa that because this is a big facility, he should leave it to me to complete so that the people of Kakamega can have access to a Level Six hospital,” he said.
Speaking after inspecting the construction progress of the proposed national referral hospital for Western Kenya in Kakamega on Sunday, the President said the government will equip it with modern medical equipment.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Cabinet Secretaries Wycliffe Oparanya and Deborah Barasa, and Kakamega County Governor Barasa were present.
The President said the facility will complement other referral hospitals in the country. He noted that such medical facilities will make universal healthcare a reality.
President Ruto told the contractor to employ over 1,000 young people to ensure that the project is completed within the 10-month period.
The President commended Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya for bold and visionary leadership during his tenure as governor of Kakamega between 2013 and 2022. He started the project in 2016.
“Thank you, Mr Oparanya, for thinking big,” he said.
He also praised the current governor, Mr Barasa, for continuing with the implementation of the project, saying some leaders abandon their predecessor’s projects.
“Government is a continuous enterprise. Projects do not belong to individuals; projects belong to the people,” he said.
Governor Barasa expressed his commitment- and that of the people of Kakamega – to working with the government in implementing transformative development programmes.
