Alex Madaga laid to rest

Emotions ran high at Isitsi Village, Sabatia Constituency in Vihiga County on Saturday when family members and friends came together to lay Alex Madaga to rest.

Alex Madaga succumbed to injuries sustained in a road accident after spending up to 18 hours in an ambulance at the Kenyatta National Hospital awaiting admission into the intensive care unit.

His death raised questions over the implementation of a constitutional provision guaranteeing rights to emergency treatment.

Justice for Madaga could, however, prove elusive as a Bill that prescribes penalties for hospitals that deny this right to patients is yet to be enacted.

According to his parents, 37-year-old Madaga stood out among his siblings and greatly supported his extended family despite being a casual security guard.

According to his father Bainito Matini, doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital where the late Madaga secured an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed were reluctant to tell them that he had passed on, keeping them anxious until the government and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) intervened.

Sabatia legislator Alfred Agoi, who attended the funeral, took issue with Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia whom he termed as incompetent tackle challenges in the Health Ministry.

He lamented that in the last three years the cabinet secretary has not added a single ICU bed at the Kenyatta National Hospital, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending 60 beds instead of the available 20.

He called on President Kenyatta to reorganise his Cabinet so as to foster proper service delivery to Kenyans, sentiments that were echoed by Vihiga Senator George Khaniri.

Khaniri said: “Action must be taken against those who defy article 43.2 of the Constitution.”

He further urged political bigwigs from Western and Nyanza regions to unite and support one presidential candidate if they want to outdo the Jubilee Administration in the next race for the country’s presidency.

Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPPDU) Secretary General Dr Ouma Oluga had earlier told Citizen TV that Kenya does not have the capacity to offer adequate emergency and intensive medical care to her citizens.