By Betty Luke
Isiolo county government is once again on the receiving end over failure to equip and operationalize a dispensary that was built by the national government six years ago at Mwangaza in Wabera ward.
The facility has since then been left idle, several doors and windows vandalized leaving the residents bearing the burden of walking for five kilometers to the county’s Referral Hospital.
Residents have expressed disappointment in Governor Mohammed Kuti’s administration for failure to honour its promise of equipping the facility that they said would greatly benefit the growing population in the area.
A Community Health Volunteers (CHV) said it was devastating attending to residents in the community as there was no nearby facility for referral services.
She said that on several occasions they would be forced to chip in, facilitating patients to seek health services at the Referral Hospital.
Ms Hella Kathure revealed that there have been cases of maternal deaths in the area and that they would only be prevented if the dispensary was functional.
“We receive distress calls from expectant mothers and since the hospital is far away they sometimes deliver at home or on the way and we risk losing one or even both,” the CHV said.
Mr George Karithi, a youth leader, said despite several appeals to the county government the facility was yet to be repaired, equipped with drugs and health care providers.
“We expect areas with such a huge population not to lack a health facility,” said Mr Karithi.
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo put the county government on notice over the facility maintaining that every citizen had the right to access quality health care.
The legislator lamented that public funds that were used to set up the building had gone into waste, urging the county government to move with haste and ensure it starts benefiting residents.
“The county government must ensure this facility starts benefiting residents because it is public money that is being wasted here,” the Senator said during a recent tour of the facility.
