Kitui county authorities say drugs are stolen from government medical facilities and sold to private chemists and hospitals.
Deputy Governor Wathe Nzau on Thursday warned thieves that they will be prosecuted.
“The right procedure of investigating and arrests will be followed to ensure the culprits face courts and are punished lawfully,” Nzau said.
He spoke outside the office of the governor when he flagged off three lorry-loads of drugs and medical equipment to be delivered to the Kitui County Referral Hospital.
It was part of the consignment from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority to be delivered to all the 287 health facilities across the county.
The Sh104 million county supplies should last until August when the next consignment will be ordered and delivered, he said.
Health chief officer Richard Muthoka also said drugs for public hospitals which were being sold in private facilities.
“When you see these MOH-branded drugs in private chemist or clinics, it is obvious that they had been stolen from public health facilities," he said.
“It is time the residents became more watchful and reported cases where private chemists are dispensing MOH-labelled drugs. The concerned persons should be arrested and prosecuted. Report cases to the police or the office of the governor,” Muthoka said.
Nzau said the county administration aimed to achieve Governor Charity Ngilu’s quality and affordable healthcare agenda for Kitui.
He said more than 30 per cent of the county's 2019-20 budget will go to healthcare. This year's the health allocation was 30 per cent but it had been upped, he added.
“In one year and eight months of governor Ngilu’s administration, we have been able to revive over 100 health facilities that had stalled or were disused. That makes Kitui the county with the highest numbers of health facilities in Kenya,” Nzau said.
He said the bottom line was to ensure that every Kitui resident, even for those in the remotest parts, had access to health facilities.
