By Tony Wafula
Kimilili MP and Bungoma gubernatorial hopeful Didmus Barasa has said strengthening sub-county and primary healthcare facilities is the only sustainable way of decongesting Bungoma County Referral Hospital (BCRH), which continues to grapple with congestion and overstretched services.
Speaking at his Nasianda home on Sunday, Barasa said he has a clear and practical plan to overhaul the county’s health system should he be elected governor in the next general election 2027, arguing that his track record in public service speaks for itself.
Barasa observed that despite devolution, Bungoma’s health sector remains in limbo, a situation he attributed to what he termed poor planning and misplaced priorities by previous county administrations.
“My view of where Bungoma County stands today is different from that of the last two governors. I see things differently and I believe we have failed to address the real issues affecting our people,” he said.
He noted that Kenyans overwhelmingly supported devolution with the hope that basic services, particularly healthcare would be brought closer to the people, instead of forcing residents to travel long distances for services that should be available at Sub County facilities.
“The role of government is to solve public problems, either by constructing projects that directly address those problems or by enacting laws and policies that change the way things are done,” Barasa stated.
According to the MP, the health sector in Bungoma is one of the most affected with patients from all parts of the county flocking to Bungoma county referral hospital (BCRH) for services that could be offered at sub-county hospitals if they were properly equipped.
“Our healthcare sector in Bungoma faces a series of challenges that previous governors seem not to understand,” he said. “Yet the solution is very simple,”
Barasa criticized the decision by past county administrations to construct a massive building next to Bungoma County Referral Hospital as a strategy to address congestion, terming the project ineffective and poorly thought out.
“The idea of putting up a huge building adjacent to the referral hospital, which has since remained a white elephant, could not and did not solve the problem,” he said.
He explained that true decongestion of a referral hospital can only be achieved by upgrading sub-county health facilities with modern equipment, adequate drugs and sufficient healthcare personnel.
“When you want to decongest a county referral hospital, you do not build another hospital next to it. You equip the nine sub-county hospitals to a level where it is not even necessary for someone to travel from Kimilili, Tongaren, Sirisia or Mt Elgon to Bungoma Referral Hospital for basic services,” Barasa said.
The lawmaker further pledged that under his administration, primary healthcare (PHC) facilities across the county would be revamped to offer quality and dignified services, in line with the national government’s focus on preventive and promotive healthcare.
“We must make our primary health facilities functional, well-equipped and respectable so that wananchi can access quality healthcare near their homes,” he said.
Barasa said strengthening healthcare at the grassroots would not only reduce congestion at BCRH but also lower the cost of healthcare for residents and improve overall service delivery across Bungoma County.
