Editor's Review

  • The CS argued that Kenya's government hospitals had the capacity to outcompete private facilities but that was not being done.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday narrated to medics how he once escaped from a hospital after realising he was in the wrong hands.

Kagwe was addressing the media at an event in the Mombasa Whitesands Hotel where he recalled an encounter with a quack when as he sought the services of a dentist.

He recounted how one of the medical attendants at a hospital in Mukurueini reached out to a pair of pliers and tried using it to attend to his aching tooth.

According to the CS, the incident happened several years ago. On that fateful day, upon the realization that the attendant was a person well known to him, Kagwe developed a second thought.


"There was no anaesthesia. Indeed, I don't think there was a dentist in the room. However, somebody was to deal with my tooth.

"What they did, is that they just got a pair of plier as if they were at a construction site. I was told to open my mouth," narrated Kagwe.

At the sight of the pliers and the absence of a dentist, Kagwe took off. 

"If you tell me about that hospital, I remember the pair of pliers and me running away with my aching took.  I went home and used a string to remove it. That hospital did not put a smile on my face," stated Kagwe.

He made the account appealing to medical professionals in public facilities to serve with expertise just as in private facilities.

The CS argued that Kenya's government hospitals had the capacity to outcompete private facilities but that was not being done.