NAIROBI: In the last three weeks, the media has reported that two expectant women died in hospital while waiting for medical attention. They died on different dates, in different county hospitals. The women did not lose their lives because of birth complications. They lost their lives because of the collapse of the national and county health services.
In the same period the media also reported how the County Government of the City of Nairobi will no longer offer free maternity services because the costs incurred in the past have not been reimbursed by the National Government for the last six months.
The news cycle for the maternal deaths and the lack of free maternal services ended shortly. The news that captivated and continues to captivate the media and the nation is the expenditures on dildos, pens, television, carpets and designer condom dispensers in the Ministry of Planning and Devolution.
The National Government has the responsibility to ensure that County Governments have the resources and capacity to offer adequate health services at the county level.
The National Government undertook to underwrite the cost of maternity services so that expectant mothers receive free maternal services. The ministry responsible for the counties is that of Devolution and Planning.
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The Ministry of Planning has an allocation of Sh60,218,095,064 for its development expenditure for the current financial year that ends in June 2016. The Ministry of Devolution has an allocation of Sh5,322,417,760 for its development expenditure. The Cabinet Secretary in charge of Planning and Devolution is therefore responsible for development expenditure of at least Sh65,540,502,824. The Ministry of Planning has an allocation of Sh19,600,767,000 for its recurrent expenditure for the current financial year that ends in June 2016. The Ministry of Devolution has an allocation of Sh2,298,785,390 for its recurrent expenditure. The Cabinet Secretary in charge of Planning and Devolution is therefore responsible for recurrent expenditure of at least Sh21,799,552,390.
In fewer words and numbers, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Devolution and Planning has an annual budget of at least Sh87 billion. The Ministry of Health has its own budget allocations of at least Sh45 billion. County Governments also have separate budget allocations for health services.
The real cost of corruption is not the money that ends ups in the pockets of select individuals. Those are the benefits of corruption; reserved for a privileged few.
The real cost of corruption is not borne by the Government. The Government is an artificial entity. It cannot exist without its citizens. It cannot exist independent of its citizens. It is fully, continuously and only financed by taxation of its citizens.
It is ordinary Kenyans who pay for the costs of corruption.
By paying taxes, it is ordinary Kenyans who meet the costs of free maternity services. After paying taxes, because of the collapse of public health services, ordinary Kenyans have to go back into their pockets to pay private health facilities for maternity services.
Despite collection of taxes, because of corruption, public maternity services are denied to those who can’t afford maternity services. Because of corruption expectant mothers continue to lose their lives in public hospitals.
The cost of a Sh1.7 million television would have saved the lives of the two expectant women who died in county hospitals with no doctors or nurses in sight.
The cost of the sex toys, meant for inter-departmental HIV programmes for adults would have saved the lives of the two children snatched together with those of their expectant mothers.
The real costs of corruption are the lives of ordinary citizens that Kenya continues to lose, one by one, day by day, because taxes meant to secure and better their lives have been diverted for private use and benefit.
