The Boni minority community in terror-prone areas of Lamu coun have appealed for the establishment of a health centre in their areas for ease of access to medical services.
Dispensaries in the areas were closed down after they were vandalised and torched by al Shabaab militants at the peak of terror attacks in Lamu between 2014 and 2015.
For over eight years, residents of Milimani, Mangai, Mararani, Basuba and Kiangwe have struggled to access medical care, with many having to travel thousands of kilometres to the Lamu King Fahad Hospital.
Residents have had to rely on medical camps organised by military and security personnel operating in these areas, more so the Kenya Defence Forces.
The areas are under a multiagency security operation dubbed "Amani Boni" meant to flush out al Shabaab militants believed to be hiding inside the Boni forest and nearby areas.
Only the Kiangwe dispensary is in operation but is plagued by a lack of personnel and a frequent shortage of drugs.
Speaking on Monday, Boni elders and local leaders urged the government to establish a fully equipped health centre to save the community from years of suffering.
Boni forest MCA Deko Barissa said for over the eight years that dispensaries have been shut, residents have had to rely on the services of traditional healers.
Pregnant women and children have borne the brunt as they are unable to access pre and ante-natal care like other women in the country.
These women have been forced to deliver their babies at home at the hands of inexperienced birth attendants as opposed to doing so at a health facility as required.
Children have not received consistent immunisation as prescribed by the Ministry of Health, and the few outreach health campaigns held have never reached them as workers fear al Shabaab attacks.
The resultant situation has seen a spike in the mortality rates of women and babies during childbirth.
“The time has come for the Boni people to have their own common hospital in Basuba that will operate 24 hours so that they can also enjoy health care like the rest of the country,” Barissa said.
Transporting patients from these areas to the Lamu King Fahad facility on Lamu island has proved to be costly and time-consuming, something that has cost the lives of many people.
Boni elder Ali Gubo said the community was in dire need of a health facility, especially during this Covid-19 crisis.
The Kiunga dispensary is equally hundreds of kilometres away and can’t be easily accessed by the rest of the community, considering most roads have been rendered impassable because of the ongoing security operation.
“If there is ever a time the Bonis need a health centre, it is now. The pandemic requires that we have such at close proximity,” Gubo said.
The community asked the government to ensure the facility, once established, is well guarded by setting up a security post.
-Edited by SKanyara
