NAIROBI, Kenya – Six Members of Parliament from Kiambu County have demanded that the national government immediately take over the county’s health docket, accusing Governor Kimani Wamatangi of presiding over a “systemic collapse” that has left patients dying in neglected hospitals.
The MPs, led by Lari legislator Joseph Mburu Kahangara, said the situation had reached a crisis point and could no longer be left in the governor’s hands.
They want the Ministry of Health to run the sector until 2027, effectively stripping Wamatangi of the devolved function for the remainder of his term.
“When a devolved function becomes a threat to human life, the nation cannot look away,” Kahangara said during a press briefing at Parliament Buildings. “For the sake of those who live and suffer in Kiambu, there must be an immediate and decisive intervention.”
The lawmakers — John Kiragu (Limuru), John Kawanjiku (Kiambaa), Elijah Njoroge Kururia (Gatundu North), Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika Town) and Gathua Wamacukuru (Kabete) — painted a grim picture of deserted wards, silent operating theatres, and patients being turned away at Kiambu Level 5 and Thika Level 4 hospitals.
They claimed that at least 136 infants and 20 mothers have died in recent months due to lack of medical care, figures they attributed to an ongoing strike and what they termed Wamatangi’s “arrogance and intimidation” in dealing with health workers.
“Kiambu has shown itself either incapable or unwilling to run its health sector,” said Limuru MP Kiragu. “For the sake of the 2.4 million residents who depend on it, the national government must intervene — not tomorrow, not next week, but now.”
The MPs accused the governor of refusing to negotiate with striking doctors, instead issuing threats and dismissing their concerns.
This stance, they said, prompted the national government to withdraw 697 medical interns from Kiambu, with a new cohort also diverted to other counties due to what officials described as a “toxic working environment.”
The few health workers left behind, including nurses and clinical officers, are either on strike or working under intolerable conditions, according to the MPs.
Many families have reportedly resorted to hiring private ambulances to seek treatment in neighbouring counties, with some patients dying en route.
“This is not a political manoeuvre, it is an act of rescue,” said Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a. “Healthcare is not a campaign slogan — it is a constitutional right, a moral obligation, and a lifeline. In Kiambu, that lifeline has been severed.”
The legislators said they would formally petition President William Ruto’s administration to invoke constitutional provisions that allow national intervention when a county fails to protect its citizens.
“This is not a failure born of poverty but of pride,” said Kabete MP Wamacukuru. “Families are mourning loved ones not because disease was unstoppable, but because leadership chose coercion over conversation.”
Governor Wamatangi has not publicly responded to the fresh calls, but his administration has previously maintained that efforts are underway to stabilize the county’s health sector.
