Migori governor Okoth Obado when he launched medicine for ten public hospitals in the county. Chief officer Dalmas Onyango looks on

Top county leaders have traded accusations and counter accusations over drug menace that has crippled health services in Migori County.

There have been public reports that drugs meant for public health facilities in the county are stolen and smuggled to Tanzania, a vice that Migori County Governor Zachary Obado said was tainting the image of the county.

Obado said that there is a cartel of well organised smugglers that stole cartons of drugs from health facilities eliciting public outcry as members of the public were not accorded the salient services they sort after in health facilities.

The governor said members of the public who visited various health centres were treated to the shock of not getting drugs prescribed for their various ailments despite the county government stocking hospital with drugs despite witnessing the day light theft of drugs meant for them

“I have received reports of patients of patients not getting drugs in our hospitals every time they get a chance to visit those facilities but they are instead referred to specific private health facilities owned by those rogue clinicians,”Obado said.

Migori county chief officer for health Dalmas Oyugi however said however said that he was not aware of reports of drug smuggling.

“I am not in a capacity to deny or accept this. Since I came to office last year, I have toured drug stores of about 80% of our health facilities and a number of them are good,” Oyugi said.

Oyugi however blamed the county government for lack of drugs in the health facilities.

The chief officer said that the procurement process caused a hitch to acquisition of drugs as there was delay in releasing funds to pay up suppliers.

“The lag pace in paying up for drugs hampers health service delivery. For instance Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) our largest supplier is reluctant to supply us with quarter two drugs until we give them money for quarter one,” Oyugi explained.

The chief officer also admitted that the county referral hospital does not offer better services compared to local private hospitals despite being fully equipped with enough personnel and equipment.

“Let us make service delivery in public hospitals commensurate to our capacity status level,” the chief officer urged.

Dr. Oyugi explained that an ideal health delivery system for the people of Migori requires 340 million against 36 million currently provided by the county government for quarterly acquisition of consumable and non-consumable pharmaceuticals.

Governor Obado however in a quick rejoinder said that he had enough in his capacity to stock hospital with drugs which were unfortunately “Stolen.”

Obado welcomed the chief officer to a meeting so that he would show him evidence of drugs being stolen.

“You see the situation is so sorry that mourners sometimes pay as little as shillings 50 to smuggle a body from our morgue,” said an obviously irritated Obado.

The two were speaking during the launch of distribution of an assortment of 147 different drugs worth shillings 18 million to 10 health facilities across the county.

The two officials said it was prudent to have an electronic system to monitor and control dispensing and consummation drugs in all the county health facilities.