The National Police Service is set to develop a Sh 160-bed hospital in Kitui County to cater for serving and retired personnel. This follows contributions made by junior officers who using a welfare fund collected for almost a year to kick start the project that will be completed this year.
The service has on a yearly basis since 2000 advertised tenders for the construction of the facility probably in Nairobi even as their personnel continued to get injured and others died because of lack of proper medical attention. The hospital will be located at the Border Patrol Unit campus in Kanyonyo. President Uhuru Kenyatta toured the upcoming facility in November 2020 and pledged to have the hospital completed this year in addition to increased investment in the service.
APS Deputy Inspector General of Police Noor Gabow said their move will pay soon when the hospital starts operations. He noted that they are using APS personnel as masons, plumbers and even architects, which is cheaper.
“We use our own personnel for the work. We have also been getting help from National Youth Service with their excavators. We have been sourcing construction materials from Thika, Nairobi, Machakos and Naivasha. We hope to have this project up and running by the end of the year to help locals and the personnel,” said Gabow.
Fully equipped
The President also pledged that the hospital will be fully equipped to cater for the needs of the officers. The hospital was initially meant to attend to officers injured in the frontline especially at the Kenya-Somalia border but now officials say all personnel even those from other places including Nairobi will be referred there.
NPS has been taking their injured personnel to the Kenya Defence Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi and private facilities. The KDF hospital is at times overwhelmed because it is small. Upon completion, the police hospital will be a huge relief for the service and will open up Kanyonyo area.
