Ruto Vows to Stop Importation of ‘Hospital Water’ If Elected President

Deputy President William Ruto has castigated the government for buying medical fluids used in hospitals from abroad, saying it amounts to importing water.

Speaking during a health forum held by the Kenya Kwanza alliance at Catholic University of East Africa on Monday, Ruto wondered why Kenya iports imports intravenous fluids, also known as drip, yet their composition is 95 percent water.

Ruto, who is eyeing the presidency on a UDA party ticket, said the fluids and other pharmaceutical products will be locally produced if he ascends to power, noting that his administration would scale up local manufacturing to create jobs.

“We are currently buying health fluids, the drips we have, which is 95% water. So basically we are importing water from other countries and we are paying for it,” said Ruto.

“It is time we make sure we scale up our manufacturing locally of pharmaceutical commodities. It must be deliberate and informed by our desire to create local jobs.”

Ruto claimed that cartels controlling the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) have made it impossible for local manufacturing of pharmaceutical commodities. 

“I was talking to a gentleman who produces medical commodities and he told me he supplies everywhere else apart from Kenya. He cannot access the Kenyan market yet he is a Kenyan producing in Kenya and it is because of the cartels around KEMSA and that whole space. We must break the cartels and make it possible for manufacturing of pharmaceutical commodities to happen in Kenya,” Ruto added.

At the same time, Ruto pledged to end the monopoly enjoyed by KEMSA, insisting that no one can persuade him that only one agency should be responsible to distribute drugs across the country.

“If there is one another thing we must sort out and again we are going to listen to you so that you tell us we must sort out the health commodity supply chain. I don’t know about the wisdom of having a monopoly called KEMSA, some people must persuade us that there is logic, there is a reason why we have a facility that doesn’t have drugs that are required at the right time but they have drugs that stay in the stores until they expire. We just simply must sort it out. You go to any health facility, you go to any county they will tell you they have very serious challenges with KEMSA.”