Leaders from the South Rift region have differed over the location of a proposed referral hospital promised by President William Ruto.
Kericho leaders have agreed to have the facility built in Londiani, a move opposed by Bomet leaders saying the hospital should be centrally located.
Led by Governor Hillary Barchok, MPs Victor Koech (Chepalungu), Francis Sigei (Sotik), Richard Kilel (Bomet Central), Brighton Yegon (Konoin) and Linet Chepkorir (Women Representative), they said they would only accept a location that is proximity to its people.
They made the remarks during the homecoming ceremony of Bomet Central MP Richard Kilel at Manyatta Primary School on Wednesday.
Barchok said that if the leaders will disagree on a good location, he will propose for it to be done in Bomet.
"We need it to be put in Kericho or Kapkatet but if the leaders will not agree I call for the hospital to be established in Bomet because it is a central place and the people of Kericho, Narok and Transmara can easily access it," Barchok said.
The county boss said the site of the facility matters a lot as it will handle emergency cases.
"We need to access the referral hospital in the shortest time possible to save lives," he said.
Koech said that the proposed referral is for all the people and there is a need for leaders from Bomet, Kericho and Narok to agree on an ideal location.
"If the leaders failed to reach a consensus on the good location, I support the facility to be built in Kapkatet because the people from the region will easily access it," Koech said.
Sigei said the facility should be constructed near the people of the South Rift region and not a place that will incur people a lot of expenses.
"Our people have been spending a lot of money travelling to Nairobi and Eldoret to get specialised treatment but when the president said that a referral hospital we will put up in the region, we need it to be more accessible to our people, " he said.
Yegon said the multi-nationals tea estates companies should curve part of their land in putting up the hospital.
"There is no need to stress ourselves with the location, what we need is use Executive Order from the president and use it for the facility," he said.
MP Kilel echoed the sentiments saying that they had not settled on Londiani as the best place for it.
"During our meeting with the president, he told us to go and agree on the best location and the multi-national companies should create space for this biggest facility, " he said.
He said they will only support the location accessible to all South Rift residents.
The leader's sentiments come at a time when Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot, who is also Kericho Senator, hinted on Sunday that the referral will be built in Londiani during the Thanksgiving prayers service at Bomet Green Stadium.
In replica, he told the Bomet leaders to decide on the location of the Sh100 billion Software factory which will be put in Bomet.
