Health ministry to start distributing the controversial mobile clinics this month

The government will roll out the distribution of the controversial mobile clinics which are embroiled in the multi-billion Afya House scandal this month, Health Cabinet secretary Cleopa Mailu has said.

Speaking during an interview, Mailu said the Ministry has planned to have about 97 clinics distributed to the counties which had been identified as beneficiaries of the clinics.

“Our plan is distribute the clinics this month and next month so that by the end of June we would have found their places in the counties which had been identified as beneficiaries of those clinics,” he said the CS.

The clinics, Mailu said, will be distributed in informal settlements within the urban areas across the country as planned with Nakuru and Nairobi benefitting from 20 each, Mombasa six, and Makueni three among other counties.

At the same time the ministry yesterday yesterday flagged off a Sh 265 million drug consignments to 110 faith based community centers across the country.

Mailu yesterday released the assortment of both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical drugs to be distributed across the country in the government’s bid to make drugs available to the people at the grassroots.

Mailu said the drugs will be distributed have all been approved by the Kenya Medical Supplies Association (Kemsa) which will also help in their distributions.

The CS also confirmed that the government is in the process of engaging the USAIDs to reverse its decision to withhold the assistance it had been extending to the ministry.

He expressed confidence the matter will be solved in less than three days and that the cut did not affect essential commodities.

“The important drugs are still been supplied including; malaria, family planning, ARVs (antiretroviral drugs) that come through KEMSA, therefore Kenyans shouldn’t fear,” assured Mailu.

On recruitment of staff to work in those clinics, Mailu said the ministry will work with County governments to ensure they get the proper staff to run the facilities.

“Ground preparation is what has been happening and where it is yet to be through, we have been working with counties to identify contractors and people from the ground to prepare the ground for us to be able to place these clinics, he said.

The mobile clinics which burst into limelight when the Afya House scandal flared up late last year were, sourced from China, supplied by Estama investments Limited which had exclusively won the deal to supply the mobile clinics to the tune of Sh 1 billion after entering into contract with the Ministry to supply 100 mobile clinics on July 17, 2015.

Estama were reportedly paid Sh 800 million and supplied the containers which have since been sprawling idle at the NYS yard in Miritini Mombasa since June last year when they were imported.

Two months ago, Coast Coordinator Nelson Marwa directed the mobile clinic containers be removed from the Miritini NYS yard immediately to pave way for construction of drug-addicts rehabilitation center.

Marwa was concerned that the mobile clinics were congesting the site thereby delaying the beginning of the construction works of the rehab center.

“The owners of these containers should come and remove them immediately… I don’t care where they are going to take them but what I want is to see them out of this site. They have jammed and this place we only need about three of the containers to serve in this facility,” said Marwa who issued an ultimatum of up to this week to have the containers cleared from the yard.

However the mobile clinics have remained at the yard since then.