Waiver
Nyeri governor, Mutahi Kahiga has directed the County Department to Health to waive medical bills for five protestors, shot in Karatina town recently during the anti-government protests.
Speaking at the Karatina sub-county hospital, when he made an impromptu visit to the victims, Kahiga also directed the health officials to work with speed to ensure that the five victims receive proper treatment to enable them resume their normal life. On Tuesday last week, the facility received seven patients with gunshot wounds following daylong running battles between the police and demonstrators in Karatina town.
“I have observed that we had seven patients, two have been discharged and five are still receiving treatment. We had two cases of two young men who are students and were shot in the melee. I want to direct that the five should be treated and released and as a hospital we shall foot their bills,” stated the governor.
While expressing his displeasure at the excessive force used by police to quell the peaceful demonstrators, he also urged the service men to exercise restraint when dealing with protestors.
“When you come to this hospital and find students who were coming from school and are now here after getting shot, it doesn’t auger very well. We may understand the pressure the police may have because of the demonstrations, but we call for restraint,” said Kahiga.
Kahiga has also appealed to the Gen Z to shelve further demonstrations to give room for the administration to address their grievances. The governor said that what started as a good gesture of holding the government accountable was now being infiltrated by criminals and if left unchecked would erode the gains realized from the protests.
“Our message to the Gen Zs is we have heard you and we continue to listen to what you are saying. We know of your 50 demands, we may not be able to meet all of them, but we now call for restraint,” he said.