Uhuru attends ceremony to honour St John's personnel

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday attended a ceremony to honour St. John's personnel at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. 

The event, dubbed the Investiture Ceremony for the Priory of Kenya of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, was presided by Prior Paul Ndung'u.

The service was taken by the Sub-Prelate of the Priory of Kenya Rt. Rev. Canon Charles Muturi, in his distinguished role as the Chief Patron of the Priory.

The order of St. John was chartered by Queen Elizabeth in 1888.

It is mostly known for its contribution in the health sector, with St. John Ambulance and John Eye Hospital Group.

Earlier, Queen Elizabeth II sanctioned Honours to volunteers in the St John Kenya group, for their services to humanity in different responsibilities.

Speaking during the ceremony, President Uhuru congratulated the order St.John for helping strengthen the resilience of Kenya's disaster management.

President Kenyatta has further given directives to strengthen the relations between the State and The Order of St.Johns.

"I hereby direct the Ministry of Health establishes a framework of cooperation to co-opt 26,000 volunteers from the St John's Prior to facilitating primary healthcare and emergency preparedness and response interventions all the way to the community level," President Kenyatta said. 

The Head of State also ordered the Ministry of Health to facilitate the establishment of a national trauma centre and provide support to the equipping of highway trauma centres.

Further, he advised the Ministry of Transport to collaborate with St. John's Order and train at least 200,000  bodaboda riders on First Aid and a structured approach to medical aids. 

Further, he directed that the MoH, National Treasury office and the Attorney General formulate a collaboration to amend the St.John Ambulance Act by providing a framework of the association. 

The event was attended by the former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi.