• Kitetu said Wambua is unfairly targeting her.
• Wambua had claimed that three patients had died due to lack of oxygen, but Kitetu said this is not true.
Image: Musembi Nzengu
Kitui Health executive Winnie Kitetu on Sunday faulted Senator Enoch Wambua over claims of lack of oxygen at a county hospital, saying he was unjustifiably targeting her and her department.
“I have said there are more than 10 ministries in Kitui county, why does he always criticise the health department?” she posed in a statement.
Kitetu said the legislator appears to have a personal vendetta against her and she will fight back.
“Kitui people are happy because they have a competent minister of health, but he is trying hard to get me out so that our people can continue suffering. I will fight back for the sake of Kituians,” Kitetu, who was hired early this year, said.
She was reacting to Saturday's statement by Senator Wambua in which he claimed that three Covid-19 patients had died at the Kitui County Referral Hospital between Thursday and Saturday for lack of oxygen.
Kitetu dismissed Wambua's statement, saying the three Covid-19 deaths at the Kitui hospital happened on Monday and Tuesday and were not as a result of lack of oxygen.
“Those who passed on arrived at the hospital too late to be helped. We sadly lost them,” she said.
Kitetu said by the time Wambua issued the statement there were four full oxygen cylinders at the facility and at the end of Saturday, the hospital received an addition 18 cylinders.
"We don't have any crisis at the hospital as we have only four Covid-19 patients admitted,” she said.
Image: Musembi Nzengu
Wambua had said that the hospital had run out of oxygen and suppliers were not ready to replenish the stock because the county government had not paid bills for previous supplies.
In a statement titled 'alarm at the Kitui Level 5 Hospital as oxygen runs out', the senator claimed the hospital had run out of oxygen, leading to the death of three Covid-19 patients.
“The situation gets even worse. Local petrol stations are reluctant to fuel a vehicle to go and collect the all-important gas from Nairobi. The oxygen suppliers are reluctant to load additional debt on Kitui county government,” Wambua said.
He said Governor Charity Ngilu had confirmed to him that her government had a challenge with fuel, but she denied the issue of lack of oxygen.
Wambua said Ngilu had informed him that a vehicle had been dispatched on Saturday to collect oxygen from Nairobi.
“The health situation in our county is now completely out of hand. And this is not just about a situation, it is about the lives of our people,” Wambua said.
He threatened to petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene unless Governor Ngilu takes immediate action to address the situation.
The senator said two weeks ago, he disclosed the pathetic state of Tseikuru subcounty and Ikutha Level 4 hospitals.
“I can confirm that the situation in these facilities is worse than when I visited. But Kitui Level 5 Hospital is worse than them,” Wambua added
Edited by A.N