A group of Mandera County Assembly members has accused the county executive of leaving Lafey and Banisa behind in the distribution of health resources.
The lawmakers said a Health Services committee report tabled in the assembly backed their concerns, pointing to uneven progress across the county.
Lafey MCA Abdullahi Siyad Adan said the executive had a duty to spread development fairly. He argued that the Roba administration had focused on other parts of Mandera while Lafey and Banisa remained neglected.
“The Constitution is clear on sharing resources but if the executive does not want to follow the law then we shall seek other alternative means,” he said.
His Arabia ward counterpart, Abdiaziz Dakat, said health facilities in Lafey and Banisa were still in poor condition. He questioned why insecurity was being used to justify poor services in Lafey while Banisa, which he said faced no such excuse, also remained underserved.
The committee report, presented by Ashabito MCA Shaban Hassan Hillow, who chairs the Health Services Committee, said the county had made progress in health infrastructure, staffing and service delivery. But it also listed serious shortcomings in several facilities.
According to the report, all sub-county hospitals lacked enough clean water, kitchens were in bad condition and most health records had not been automated. It also said many county-built health projects were already deteriorating because of poor workmanship before commissioning.
Banisa Sub-County Hospital was singled out as having been abandoned by the executive. The report said it had no separate wards for men and women, and that the maternity unit lacked privacy to the extent that some mothers were forced to give birth outside the hospital.
The committee could not visit Lafey Sub-County Hospital because of insecurity. Instead, members met the hospital superintendent about 10 kilometres away from the facility. The superintendent told them the hospital operated only during the day and had no ambulance for emergencies.
The report also said the laboratory, maternity wing and injection room at Lafey lacked water supply. Both Lafey and Banisa hospitals had no theatre services, despite Governor Roba announcing the construction of operating facilities in 2015.
It further noted that the main hospitals in Mandera had no blood banks or mortuaries. The multimillion-shilling accident and emergency units in Mandera and Elwak were also said to have architectural problems.
The committee recommended more wards and additional beds in the hospitals, as well as isolation wards to handle cholera and other communicable diseases.
Despite the criticism, the committee said drug supplies were arriving on time in the facilities it inspected. Mr Hillow said the health budget had grown steadily since 2013 and that the sector had improved as allocations increased.
The department’s budget stood at Sh2.5 billion in the 2018/2019 financial year. The committee also said maternal mortality had fallen to 588 per 100,000 live births from 3,795 per 100,000 live births before devolution.
It cited a 2015 World Health Organisation report that described Mandera as the worst place in the world for a mother to give birth and for a child to be born and survive.
County Health Services Executive Mohamud Eda rejected claims of discrimination, saying Lafey had lagged because of insecurity. He said some parts of the sub-county were inaccessible for development, but added that plans for a sub-county hospital would soon be implemented.
He said the county was upgrading hospitals according to population needs, starting with Mandera East, then Elwak, Takaba and Rhamu. He added that Banisa Sub-County Hospital would be next.
Mr Eda also said Banisa lacked land for expansion, but the county would use the little space available and could buy land from the community if necessary.
