Siaya Improves Services As Orengo Targets KES 635 Million in own-source Revenue

Residents of Siaya County who have been clamouring for better service delivery have welcomed the move that aims to improve services specifically in the medical and agricultural sector.

The proposals are contained in the Siaya County Finance Bill 2025.Governor Orengo (fifth from left) commissions a renovated maternity unit at the Siaya County Referral Hospital which until recently was in a deplorable condition. The new one has a 42-bed capacity with an average of 12 deliveries daily translating to more than 4,300 deliveries annually. Photo | Diblo Governor’s Press Unit

The Bill proposes an increment of daily bed charges in public hospitals by a mere KES 150. It also proposes to increase the daily bed charges in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from KES 1,000 to KES 3,500.

While a certain publication in the mainstream media highlighted these charges as inordinately “high” investigations by DalanewsKE have revealed that Kakamega, Mombasa and Machakos counties whose health systems are hailed as role models have been charging more-or-less similar amounts for some time now.

For a patient to benefit from improved ICU services from within the Siaya County Referral Hospital, they will part with only KES 30,000. Charges for referrals from outside have been increased to KES 35,000 from KES 30,000.

Given changes in the economy and rise in fuel costs ambulance service charges will go up by only KES 500 from KES 3,500 to KES 4,000 for hospital-generated referrals and from KES 5,000 to KES 7,500 within bordering counties.

Male circumcision that was initially sponsored by an international donor agency will now attract a nominal fee of KES 1,000 in all the public health facilities.

The focal point of the Nyalore Administration’s manifesto is agriculture and health. Photo | Diblo Governor’s Press Unit

Coroner services at the county’s mortuaries remain at KES 500 daily for preservation of all bodies from within the wards while those from outside will be charged KES 700.

As in other facilities across the country embalming will cost KES 3,400 per body from the wards and KES 4,600 from outside. Bodies retrieved from water will be charged KES 5,000 while postmortem examination, which now costs KES 10,000, will go up to 15,000.

All these charges are informed by current market rates and the need to provide better services.

Businesses intending to rent office space in the new Siaya County Stadium will be required to pay KES 50,000 per month while those seeking to rent spaces to establish a restaurant will pay KES 100,000. These charges are similar to, or even lower than those affected by other counties for a facility of international standards such as the 20,000-seater Siaya stadium.

The Orengo admininistration has deliberately been subjected to negative press with certain entities making it sound like the proposals in the Siaya County Finance Bill 2025 are repressive. The truth is that compared to proposals contained in the last budget such allegations are baseless.

There’s nothing criminal in a county government charging urban levies including parking fees within municipalities to enhance service delivery. When it happens in Siaya sponsored articles by certain malcontents out of ignorance make it sound like an offense is being committed.

Wide-angle view of the almost complete Siaya County Stadium. Photo | Diblo Governor’s Press Unit

Global growth indices show that the proposals in the bill are very moderate and focused on critical areas that are geared towards supercharging economic growth.

The true picture on the ground is that under the patronage of Governor James Aggrey Bob Orengo Siaya County in two years has made remarkable progress in leaps and bounds.