The proposed NMS 24 Health Facilities at a cost of Kshs. 2B to be built around the low income settlements of Nairobi. Is it Value for money?


The government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced through the NMS that the there will be construction of about 24 level 3 health facilities within the Nairobi City County low income settlements at a cost of Kshs. 2B in a period of 100 days, led by the DG, General Badi. Is this feasible? Well, this is a good question for all of us. It is just a matter of time. 

In the Constitution of Kenya-2010, Chapter four—THE BILL OF RIGHTS, Economic and social rights. 43. (1) Every person has the right— (a) to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care. It is highly imperative for every Kenyan citizen to access healthcare at an affordable cost. 

Constructing the 24 level 3 health facilities is a welcomed move, but are Kenyans getting value for their 2B? Are we right to say that nobody is interested in upgrading the housing conditions of these low income settlements (slums) before the inception of this project? In my view, it would have been much more useful to first develop affordable housing or upgrade the housing situation before engaging into the development of these health facilities. Is this a repeat of what happened with the two Mombasa road footbridges which costed the taxpayers Kshs. 362 million with Bellevue bridge connecting South C, which costed Kshs. 177 million and the one at General Motors costed Kshs. 185 million[1]which are due for demolition due to the construction of the JKIA-Westlands expressway. Is it a case of poor planning or was it intentional or was it by design? Shall we have a repeat of this scenario in a couple of years to come when there will be need to construct more housing leading to demolition of the health facilities in the slums to create more space rendering the Kshs. 2B investment useless? Kenyans need to constantly ask the hard questions and speak truth to economic sabotage.

Case of Makueni County: The county government of Makueni constructed a 200 bed hospital at a cost of Kshs. 135M[2], translating to Kshs. 0.675M per bed (Using simple math). Well, I am privy to the fact that many people especially who view this proposed “NMS health facilities project” as a positive move, they will be guns blazing in defense of my view on this subject. I totally agree every Kenyan has a right to express and air their ideas and it is enshrined in our constitution.

Let is revisit the costs of the NMS proposed health facilities: 24 hospitals at a cost of Kshs. 2B translates to Kshs. 83M per hospital, which then translates to Kshs. 5.6M per bed (assuming 1 hospital has 16 bed capacity). The cost per bed as proposed by NMS compared with the cost per bed in Makueni has a +772% in cost variation. Well, we are pretty much aware that the costs associated with construction in Nairobi and Makueni are totally not the same due to labor costs, topology, geology and other factors. That is agreeable. But the +772% variation to me looks not only looks “abnormal” but also “Immoral”.

As I was penning this down, I was constantly asking myself, will Kenya ever achieve “affordable and sustainable” Universal Health Care (UHC)?

___________________________________________________________________________________

Brian Kavuwa. 

bkavuwa blog.

briventures@gmail.com. 


Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 11, 2020 at 3:45 AM

    Plain truth. Well said. It's such a shame in today's leadership to see how public funds becomes the leaders property. Greed has taken lead in syphoning public funds instead of service delivery.
    The oversight authorities have just remained silent . This has become the norm. I wish this article can be amplified n the right thing done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Construction DairiesAugust 11, 2020 at 4:40 AM

    While your sentiments on the proposed developments may sound valid, it is also good to know that there are two sides to every situation. Ying yang, it all depends on the perspective

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. bkavuwaAugust 11, 2020 at 4:43 AM

      Thanks for the feedback. The differences in intellectual discourse makes human beings learn more, engage more and do more together. Asante.

      Delete
  3. SoyaNewsAugust 11, 2020 at 6:05 AM

    The current government does not take in the advice given by experts. It is their way.

    ReplyDelete

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