Safina Party Lamu Gubernatorial candidate Umra Omar has reiterated her commitment towards improving universal healthcare coverage in Lamu once she is elected.
Speaking in Tchundwa village, Lamu East constituency during meet and greet the voters campaign in the area, Omar stated that her work and tour across Lamu as a NGO healthcare provider led to her decision to run for Lamu governorship.
Omar is the founder of Safari Doctors, an NGO based in Lamu that provides healthcare to vulnerable families across the county.
“The level of healthcare service provision across Lamu is appalling considering the amount of money the county government spends on UHC and yet hospitals across the county regularly lack medicine or suffer breakdown of vital equipment,” she noted.
She further revealed that the Lamu county government disburses Sh120 million to the National Health Insurance Fund every year and yet most of the monies ends up being transferred to referral hospitals in Kilifi and Mombasa.
“The Lamu County government has for the past ten years since prioritized building health facilities but not in recruiting medical personnel to work in hard to reach areas such as the Boni,” Omar said.
She stated that dispensaries across Lamu East especially within the five Boni villages have been closed because of the county government’s failure to effect its UHC initiative well.
“My decision to run for the gubernatorial seat is because of the lethargy and mediocrity that has been rife in the tenure of the two governors who have failed to address key issues decisively in Lamu,” she said.
Omar further rebuffed claims that she is a political “puppet” in this election stating that she is in the race to win it.
She further decried the manner in which the incumbent governor manages Lamu from Mombasa and termed him an “absentee leader” whom she claimed was not in touch with the problems affecting Lamu residents.
