Nairobi is the largest beneficiary of the first 170 beds distributed to 14 counties under the Buy Kenya Build Kenya initiative.
Nairobi gets 40.
Ten beds each will go to Tana River, Nyeri, Samburu, Kajiado, Murang’a, Kisii, Siaya, Kirinyaga, Mandera, Laikipia, Tharaka Nithi, Kiambu and Nakuru.
Other counties will pick their 10 beds once assembling of he remaining 370 is completed.
The beds are the first batch of the 500 procured from two artisans following a directive from President Uhuru Kenyatta in July 2020. The order was both a response to the Covid-19 pandemic and promotion of the Buy Kenya Build Kenya concept.
Forty more youths have been employed to finish the job.
One of the artisans is Mungai Gathongo from Kiambu.
“This is a dream come true because when this idea came and we started actualising it, we didn’t think it would come this far. There were a few challenges," 26-year-old Gathongo said.
“This is a huge milestone for this country because it shows young people have huge potential to do greater things beyond the beds,” he added.
He and his team in Githunguri, Kiambu county, use local materials to make a standard hospital bed.
“For starters we asked they make 500 beds but as happens in bureaucracies, things did not pick up very quickly," Interior PS Karanja Kibicho said.
"The young men had already gone to banks, taken loans and bought materials. Then suddenly, all phones went quiet and the young people became very frustrated."
The beds have a standard design, reclining frame, height adjuster and retractable serving extension.
They have portable gas cylinder holders and a drip stand that can be detached.
The beds will help public hospitals reeling under the strain of Covid-related admissions.
The country is suffering under a third wave and many hospitals have no more ICU beds.
“The beds are an exciting demonstration of our capacity to make things that we have often imported," Industrialisation CS Betty Maina said.
"We have made other things such as PPES and ventilators and some of our companies have been certified and are supplying these to many other countries," she said.
The tender to supply the beds had been marred with controversy and the government was accused of duping the innovators.
The state denied the claims. The President's delivery Unit secretary Andrew Wakihiu said one entrepreneur was facing several criminal charges.
(Edited by V. Graham)
