President William Ruto has issued a stern warning to contractors delaying the implementation of key government projects.
The President said the government is committed to fulfilling its promises to the people, saying contractors undermining their efforts will not be tolerated.
“There are many contractors who are letting us down, and we will not allow them. This is the year for delivering our agenda as planned,” he said.
The President made the remarks in Kisii, where he inspected the construction of the Kisii Cancer Centre.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the project.
President Ruto instructed the contractor to implement the project in line with the agreement or face contract termination.
“You have been paid all the money required. There is no reason whatsoever why this project is not progressing,” he said.
When was Kisii Cancer Centre project initiated?
The project was initiated during the leadership of then-Kisii Governor James Ongwae.
The facility, expected to make Kisii a regional health hub, once completed would reduce congestion at the Kenyatta National Hospital jammed by many cancer related referrals.
The project, a partnership between Kisii county, the Arab Bank of Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD) and G.O.K is expected was to be operational before 2022.
It was to be the third cancer centre in Kenya after those at KNH and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret.
The unveiling of the Cancer treatment centre pprojectwas informed by the rising cases of cancer related deaths in the country. It is estimated that over 39,000 new Cancer cases are reported in Kenya every year and according to World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, 27,000 cases of cancer infections reported are from Western region of Kenya.
The Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret can handle about 9,000 cancer patients in a year while the rest of the patients visit private hospitals locally and abroad. This pushes a number of patients to the brink of death owing to inflated costs in accessing cancer treatment.
Cancer treatment has been a mirage to many resulting in over 13,000 cancer related deaths annually, according to the 2014 Kenya EcoEconomic and Household Survey.
Which regions will Kisii Cancer Centre serve?
Once actualized, the Kisii Cancer center will serve an estimated population of 10 million persons in Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, Homabay, Kisumu, Kericho and the Trans Mara region of Narok County.
The cancer centre at KTRH will occupy 5,000 square meters of land and will be fully equipped with theatres, four examination rooms, mammograms, an observation ward, waiting rooms, lecture rooms, a control room, and two shielded rooms for x-ray, CT scanner, changing rooms for doctors and staff and patient wards with 40 beds.
The cancer centre will also go a long way in ameliorating the research and teaching efforts being envisaged at KTRH.
