Release allowances for frontline medics, Kahiga urges state

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga wants the national government to release the allowance package for frontline health workers to boost their morale.

 “We are pleading with you your excellency [President Uhuru Kenyatta] and your government to kindly release the money,” he said.

In July, Governor Kahiga announced that Nyeri had received Sh65 million to pay the special allowances to health workers for three months. 

"We need to give them allowances for another three months just to encourage them even as we struggle to give them all the support they need," Kahiga said on Thursday.

The governor made the appeal outside his office in Nyeri town on Thursday when he received personal protective equipment donated by Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) for use by health workers.

Kenha board chairman Wangai Ndirangu said the donation was meant to enhance the county's preparedness in the war on the virus.

 “One of the contractors we have been working with donated to us some equipment some of which cannot be used within our context and so we thought that it is better to give them to a county that can make use of them,” he said.

They included surgical masks, surgical gloves, infrared thermometers, among others.

Governor Kahiga, who made his first appearance in public on Wednesday after being in isolation for almost three weeks after contracting Covid-19, said the disease is not the best of experiences. He urged residents to step-up their adherence to Covid-19 guidelines.

He said the county Covid-19 coordination committee will meet to explore ways of countering the spread of the virus.

The committee is co-chaired by the governor and county commissioner Loyford Kibaara.

 Kahiga said, Nyeri recorded on Wednesday recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a day.

“The numbers on Wednesday were very discouraging. We had 53 new cases,” he said.

Kahiga emphasised on the need for people to take personal responsibility and follow the guidelines set by the Ministry of Health.