
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir is planning to shut down chemists operating around public hospitals in the county.
According to Governor Nassir, this has been triggered by serious malpractices between health officials in those hospitals and the chemists owners.
Speaking recently after joining a public forum ‘Bunge la Mwananchi’ in Changamwe Sub County, Mombasa, Nassir said that it has come to his notice that there is direct collusion between the business owners and doctors in public hospitals who force patients to buy medicines from the privately owned medicine stores.
Nassir said he had received numerous complaints from Changamwe residents that doctors in public hospitals were asking patients to buy their prescriptions from private chemists outside the public hospitals.
“Most of the hospitals have improved in healthcare services and treatment. However, we are ordered to get our prescriptions outside the hospitals, in privately owned stores. Is it because the County government cannot purchase medicines for us or is it because it’s a well choreographed scheme for doctors to make a ‘kill’ in their privately owned pharmacies?” posed a resident, Joseph Were.
Responding to such desperate calls, the Mombasa County Chief said he once came face to face with such scenarios in Likoni Subcounty.
“I will not dispute your claims. I once abruptly visited Likoni Sub county hospital to see a patient and most of the patients were asking me for help because they have been ordered to buy medicines from pharmacies just adjacent to the hospital. On inspecting the pharmacy stores in the hospital, they were filled with every type of drugs the patients needed,” said Nassir.
The Mombasa Governor continued, “This is a broad daylight theft we must combat at all costs,”
Nassir said Mombasa county government cleared all its arrears at KEMSA and purchased drugs worth over 70 million in the Financial year, 2024/25.
“In the last Financial year, 2022/23, we purchased drugs worth over 150 million shillings, so if you tell me our public hospitals and health centres lack drugs, we must investigate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nassir says the County government is fully digitising the health sector, which according to him, will tame such malpractices among health officials in the country.
“We have already digitised five public hospitals in the county. Our health department will be receiving real time information on Who was treated, In which hospital, What was the prescription and to some extent how did the healthcare provider behave?” Revealed Nassir.
Though he admitted that the efforts to shut private pharmacies surrounding public hospitals will be contested by those involved in squandering public resources, the Mombasa Governor said, there is no turning back.
“We are on course in streamlining the health sector so that our people get the quality health services they need within their locality,” noted Nassir.