Busia County Under Fire for Spending KSh 5 Million on Hospital Level Consultancy
Busia Governor Paul Otuoma is under fire after it emerged that the county paid nearly KSh 5 million to a consultancy firm to advise on the classification of Busia County Referral Hospital. This is according to the financial report for the year ending June 30, 2024.
The Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) demanded answers after it was revealed that the consultancy fee was meant to determine whether the hospital should be Level 4 or Level 5—despite the hospital being already gazetted as Level 5 in 2021.
“This is a fictional story, governor,” CPAC Chairperson Moses Kajwang said. “You paid a consultancy nearly KSh 5 million to advise you on whether the hospital should be Level 5 when it was already gazetted as such. This is drama. Governor, when you read this, does it make sense to you?”
Kitui Senator Enock Wambua also questioned the expenditure, pointing out that the matter falls under the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council.
Governor Otuoma was under pressure and struggled to justify the payment, saying there was an arbitrary registration within the county regarding the hospital’s level and formal processes were required. The county’s chief officer for health defended the consultancy, saying it was meant to support the hospital’s upgrade and ICU activation.
“That one was specifically for making it a Level 5, especially regarding the operationalisation of the ICU. Initially it was registered as a Level 5 but it was scaled down to Level 4 because certain services were missing. That was the purpose of the consultancy,” the officer said.
But Kajwang dismissed this explanation, calling it a “smoking gun” and asked Governor Otuoma to take administrative action. Senators also raised concerns over the county’s declining revenue collection, saying millions of shillings could have been lost without proper tracking.
In a related finding, the Auditor-General’s report revealed that Busia County was conducting official business through unofficial email accounts—a breach of protocol that exposes sensitive government information and deeper governance issues.
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Busia County Under Fire for Spending KSh 5 Million on Hospital Level Consultancy