Residents of South Mugirango in Kisii county turned up in their hundreds on Sunday to protest the withdrawal of health staff from Nduru Level 5 Hospital.
The withdrawal followed an attack, three weeks ago, on a driver and two medical staff sent by the county to relocate an anesthesia equipment to Keumbu Level 4 Hospital.
Following the incident, various medical union officials gave a statement saying they were withdrawing their staff from the subcounty hospital citing insecurity concerns at the health facility.
On Sunday, however, the residents denied insecurity claim in the region.
They gave the county government a 48-hour ultimatum to redeploy staff to the hospital to help normalise operations.
Lilian Mogendi, one of the protesters and a former Kisii Assembly nominee, said female patients were hurting the most with the continued closer of the facility.
"Expectant women are forced especially to travel far to get a service they should be enjoying here," she said.
Richard Otula, another resident, said they have unanimously decided not to pay tax until the facility reopens.
"We will only start paying cess if our facilities are operational, there is no need to if we are not receiving services," he told journalists.
At least three revenue officers were beaten up at Riosiri market early Sunday when they turned up to collect cess.
During the protests, the residents walked from Riosiri to Nduru Hospital where they demanded the reopening of the facility by Monday.
