Garissa, Kenya – Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir has warned healthcare workers against engaging in private business during official working hours, saying the practice amounts to misuse of public resources and denies Kenyans access to quality healthcare.
Nassir, who chairs the Council of Governors (CoG) Health Committee, said county governments spend billions of shillings training medical personnel, equipping health facilities and paying salaries and should therefore get value for their investment through improved services to patients.
Speaking during the 4th Devolution Sensitisation Week in Garissa, the governor said stronger supervision would be introduced in public health facilities to ensure healthcare workers remain available to serve patients during official working hours.
He said healthcare workers who abandon their public duties to attend to private businesses were abusing public time and resources.
“No healthcare worker should be conducting private business when they are meant to be serving patients in a public facility. That is an abuse of public time and public resources, and we must be prepared to treat it for what it is—a form of corruption,” Nassir said.
The governor said accountability in the health sector must ultimately be measured by the quality of services received by ordinary Kenyans.
“Accountability in healthcare is accountability to the mwananchi. County governments invest heavily in training our healthcare workers, equipping our facilities and paying salaries, and the public deserves a fair return through reliable, quality services,” he said.
Nassir said counties would continue supporting healthcare workers but stressed that such support must be matched by professionalism, commitment and dedication to public service.
“Our healthcare workers deserve our support, but with that support comes a responsibility to serve,” he added.
Governor pushes for return of Level 5 hospital grants
Nassir also renewed calls for the national government to restore conditional grants for Level 5 hospitals, arguing that the move would ease the financial burden on counties and strengthen specialised and referral healthcare.
He said counties continue to commit significant resources to Level 5 facilities despite the withdrawal of the grants that were initially provided to support the hospitals.
Nassir said the original arrangement envisaged a situation where every county would eventually have its own Level 5 hospital, but the reality has changed, with some counties struggling to sustain the facilities.
He said the national government should consider restoring the conditional grants instead of allowing some Level 5 hospitals to be upgraded to Level 6 facilities at the expense of other counties.
Nassir said the approach would help strengthen Level 5 hospitals while ensuring Kenyans continue to access specialised services closer to home.
He proposed that the national government concentrate its direct investments on Level 6 national referral hospitals while supporting Level 5 facilities through conditional grants.
According to the governor, a clearer division of responsibilities and closer cooperation between the two levels of government would improve referral systems, expand access to specialised care and ultimately deliver better health outcomes.
The remarks come amid continued calls for stronger accountability in the devolved health system, where counties remain responsible for the management of most public health facilities and healthcare workers.
