By Onyimbi Nelson
Recently, the story of an expectant mother who had to swim across a seasonally dangerous river in Tana River County to deliver was highlighted across social media. The nature of the hazard that she encountered to transition to motherhood, having to cross a river that had claimed 2 lives earlier on paints a picture of how tough the transition to motherhood has become and how deplorable our health system infrastructure may be. It does not qualify as an excuse to use the prevailing el-nino rains, given meteorologists have sounded repeated warnings to necessitate planning for emergencies. Regardless, it is the ordinary citizens who continue to bear the most suffering until our leaders take up responsibility and accountability.
With the common narrative of flying outside the country or getting booked in expensive private facilities for treatment, most politicians and leaders lack the experience of the ordinary health-seeking citizen. The majority of the Kenyan citizenry has undeniably received a raw deal when it comes to the development of safe and inclusive health systems including infrastructure and services. This is despite the provision of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, in article 4 to provide ‘the highest attainable standards of health’ to every Kenyan citizen, including reproductive health as well as emergency health. Additionally, massive amounts of investments are made in counties to aid the development of social amenities including the national counties equalization fund. This is a fund that was established in 2013 to equitably uplift marginalized counties based on population, geographical area, and development. Tana River County, in this context, is among the top 10 counties given the highest amount of equalization fund to necessitate development yet safe means for a highlighted expectant mother to reach a hospital still lacks. Aside from this, other sources of funding from county revenues, constituency development funds, development partners, and projects by other institutions also present opportunities for developing amenities.
The political leadership needs to intentionally commit to providing development for the citizens they represent. This is achievable through the available funds, partnerships with development organizations, and collaboration with the communities. In order to contribute to safer and more inclusive structures, citizens also need to educate themselves to understand what is in for them in the constitution and county acts in order to demand for better services from local leaders. Beside leaders taking up responsibility and accountability, it falls upon citizens, especially young people, to participate in civic duties. Through public participation, citizens are able to contribute meaningfully to projects and infrastructure that directly benefit them in their communities. Additionally, civic participation opens avenues for citizens to demand accountability from leaders based on pledges, mandates, and stipulated responsibilities.
Onyimbi Nelson, NAYA-SAIC Health Advocate.
