Multi-billion shilling health projects stall, deepening Kenya's health crisis - report
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said the key projects, including the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Paediatric Emergency and Burns Centre, the Kisii Cancer Centre and the East Africa Kidney Institute Centre of Excellence, are significantly behind schedule.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has raised concerns over the delay of several multi-billion shilling health projects, which have already cost the government over Sh1.1 billion in wasted funds.
In her report for the financial year ending June 2024, Gathungu said the key projects, including the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Paediatric Emergency and Burns Centre, the Kisii Cancer Centre and the East Africa Kidney Institute Centre of Excellence, are significantly behind schedule.
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The delays, according to Gathungu, have not only led to preventable deaths and worsened hospital overcrowding but also deepened the country’s health crisis.
The Paediatric Emergency and Burns Management Centre at KNH, originally scheduled for completion in 2020, remains unfinished, with over Sh1.1 billion already spent by June 2024.
The centre, crucial for treating severely ill children, has exacerbated delays in medical care, putting lives at risk.
The centre, once completed, will feature 82 general ward beds, 14 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and six high-dependency unit (HDU) beds for burns patients, alongside 82 general ward beds, 24 ICU beds and six HDU beds for paediatric care.
Financial losses
Despite the investments, the Auditor-General’s report highlighted avoidable financial losses due to the delay.
“In addition, the value of work done includes interest on late payments of Sh68,043,601 that could have been avoided. This was contrary to Section 151 (2) (c) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, which requires a procuring entity to meet all its payment and other obligations on time and in accordance with the contract,” Gathungu said.
“In the circumstances, value for money could not be confirmed for the expenditure of Sh34,047,734 on the construction of the Paediatric Emergency Centre and Burns Management Centre.”
The Kisii Cancer Centre, another crucial facility, has similarly faced extensive delays. Scheduled for completion in 2016, the project remains unfinished despite funding being secured nearly a decade ago.
Gathungu notes that a contract was awarded in January 2024, but by June 2024, no physical construction had begun, leaving cancer patients without access to life-saving treatments like chemotherapy, radiotherapy and palliative care.
In her report, Gathungu said that despite an upfront payment of Sh283 million, no significant progress had been made. Additionally, millions of shillings had been spent on medical equipment and furniture, which remain unused due to the incomplete facility.
Meanwhile, kidney patients across East Africa are still waiting for the East Africa Kidney Institute Centre of Excellence, a project valued at Sh3.7 billion. Despite its scheduled completion in 2019, the centre remains unfinished, with Sh2.79 billion already expended.
The five-storey medical facility, designed to include wards, laboratories, operating theatres, high-dependency units, consultation rooms, and car parks, has yet to materialise.
The continued delays in these critical health projects have intensified the country’s healthcare crisis, forcing patients to seek expensive private treatment or travel long distances for specialised care.
The government has now been urged to account for the stalled projects and take urgent steps toward their completion.
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