By Omar Abdallah
An oversight report by the office of Mombasa senator has revealed serious understaffing of health facilities in Mombasa.
The report launched by Senator Mohamed Faki further reveals a serious staff stagnation in one job group for decades.
The report however recommends the Mombasa County government to improve on staffing, to facilitate seamless delivery of health services.
“We lack adequate personnel in the health sector and therefore the county has been forced to hire casuals, like Coast general some of the staff have been casuals for the last 20 years., “said Faki.
The Mombasa senator clarified that those that have overstayed without permanent contracts are at the Coast general Teaching and referral hospital is the most affected.
Speaking on Monday 14,2025, Faki said Mombasa’s health situation was faced by a mirage of challenges that has affected smooth service delivery.
“Most of them do not even have a payslip, and this year the county gave a directive that the hospitals should not employ anybody, leaving it to the county pulic service boards, but this issue of adequate personal is a big problem,” said Faki.
Apart from being understaffed the facilities also lack adequate equipment. Some of the equipment’s are said to be old and not service the public well.
“At Coast General, we have an MRI machine which was bought 10 years ago. It is currently outdated, even the images it is producing are not the proper images required by doctors, and the county government has not invested in the acquisition of this MRI equipment which is very essential,” said Sen Faki.
The report which exposed Governors Abdulswamand Nassir failure to invest in health sector now recommends for accountability to the monies channelled to middle facilities.
“The county also has a challenge of idle facilities, some are not being used for their intended purpose,” he said adding that Shonda facility is a good example of the middle facilities.
“We went to Shonda where a level three facility has been built but is not in use. It is used as a dwelling facility for a family,” he said saying some have become homes to some families which is an illegality.
“Marimani is a level three hospital in Mwakirunge that can be converted into level four. Marimani was closed because it was too expensive for locals,” said Senator.
The public is now forced to use a small clinic that, according to Senator Faki, does not allow for doctor patient confidentiality. At portReiz hospital some of te machines were found to be old. The hospital has one ambulance, while it serves airport and the Mombasa port, according to the report.
The report also revealed that other health facilities do not have a perimeter wall and others have no security. The report now calls for relevant authorities to swing in and ensure accountability for public resources.
In coast general he said the board runs separately from the county government and therefore the county should stop interfering with the operations of the private facility, which is run by a separate board.
