Jama gets Garissa rolling even before his swearing in

Garissa governor-elect Nathif Jama has started implementing some of the things he had promised in his manifesto.

He had promised residents that he will work round the clock to make sure residents get the services they need.

"We have have absolutely no time to rest. Our people were crying for change. They had completely lost hope as nothing was working. That is what we are trying to correct as we move forward," Jama said on Saturday. 

Last Thursday, Jama met with the KPLC managing director Geoffrey Muli to broker a deal, following the company’s move to disconnect power at the Garissa Water and Sewerage Company over an accrued bill amounting to billions.

In the meeting, it was agreed that power will be restored at the plant.

“I had a fruitful meeting with Muli and we agreed on the restoration of power to GAWASCO. Also, street lights in Garissa town will soon function,” read part of his Facebook post.

Residents of Garissa had been facing an acute water shortage, with outgoing Governor Ali Korane being blamed for doing little to address the crisis. 

The Garissa Water and Sewerage Company staff had also threatened to strike following months of unpaid salary.

Residents had for months resorted to buying water from vendors at an exorbitant fee.

However, in the last few days water has been flowing in homesteads within Garissa town and its environs.

Later the governor-elect also met with the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority CEO Terry Ramadhani who according to Jama promised to support his health agenda as part of the authority’s three-pronged transformation strategy.

Hospitals in Garissa have been facing an acute shortage of medical supplies, scarcity of ambulances and lack of oxygen. This has led to an increase in infant and maternal mortality rates.

“As the governor-elect of Garissa, I am hitting the ground running and I have reached out to Kemsa because I know their capabilities and quality assurance standards.

"I am impressed that the authority is now riding on a Kemsa 2.0 strategy, which aligns with my health delivery priorities,” Jama said.

He said the Garissa government will work to ensure that they meet their end of the bargain to Kemsa through prompt payments.

“We also urge Kemsa to focus on high order fill rates and prompt turnaround times,” Jama said.

The governor-elect also said Garissa hospitals will start receiving drugs from Monday.

Jama further acknowledged that he had been elected on a development platform that prioritises water and health sector reforms, to facilitate county development and prosperity for the people of Garissa.

He was overwhelmingly voted for by residents after promising to bring change and restore critical services like water and healthcare, which was on its knees.

The governor-elect garnered 69,342 votes against his closet challenger, Korane who got 26,148. 

Ramadhani said Kemsa is currently executing the rapid results strategy geared at raising operating efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

“County governments can only be described as Kemsa’s priority or prestige clients. We are sparing no effort to ensure that we meet their last mile medical supplies needs as best as we can,” she said.

The CEO spoke during Jama's courtesy call at Kemsa head offices.

Kemsa dispatched more than Sh27 billion worth of Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies and National Health Strategic Programme supplies countrywide in the last financial year.

In recent months, the authority has collected more than Sh2.7 billion overdue pending bills owed by county governments through a stakeholder engagement-focused credit management strategy.

Under the new Kemsa credit management strategy, the authority has set a target to collect at least Sh500 million monthly in outstanding dues from county governments, to boost service delivery.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)