Kilifi, KENYA: Residents and entrepreneurs in Kilifi County are crying foul over alleged poor service delivery by the county government.
They say some of the departments have totally failed to deliver up to their required standards, some are allegedly even asking for ten percent before delivering services to the residents.
The Department of Health Services is said to be on the front line of poor service delivery especially when it comes to handling patients at the Kilifi County Hospital and other government health centres.
Speaking to Baraka Fm on Thursday, residents who were complaining at the Emergency unit of the Kilifi County Hospital, said they have been turned to be helpers by the health workers.
One of them is Karisa Ngonyo.
“We are very much shocked by how service is being delivered to us here,” Nginyo said.
“The moment one comes here, he is sent by the nurses to serve his/her patient by sending you to bring the bed, take the patient from one place to another within the same unit as if they are volunteers yet they are paid by our taxes. It’s really disgusting,” he added.
The residents added that they are normally sent out to private hospitals and health centers for blood tests and X-Rays.
Pregnant women are said to be the most affected.
According to Joseph Chilumo, a resident, there might be a partnership between them and the owners of the private health facilities or they might be the owners of the health facilities.
“There has been this trend that a patient is sent out to private health facilities for blood tests and X-Rays which is really expensive and yet we have a government hospital with all the required facilities,” Chilumo said.
Another department in the limelight is the Finance and economic planning.
Entrepreneurs are crying foul over delayed payments by the county.
They say before one is paid he/she is paid for a genuine work done they must give out ten percent of the total amount and or know well the person in charge of the payment.
According to a young entrepreneur who sort anonymity, he has been camping at the County treasury pushing for payment of less than sh. 400,000 for the past one week but in vain.
“I have been here for the past four days, and they keep telling me I will be paid but nothing has been done. My mother is in the Intensive Care Unit and doctors have declined to attend to her for lack of money,” he said, with tears rolling down his cheeks.
During the inauguration of Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi last year, he vowed to fight corruption, scrap off incompetent workers and improve development and service delivery, almost a year later things are said to have turned worse than before while Kingi is nowhere to be seen.
Intellectuals say should the situation not change, Kilifi County is on the verge of collapsing economically.
