Sen Cleophas Malalah has today (Wednesday, 17 June) been unanimously elected to Chair the Special Committee established through a resolution of the Senate to consider the proposed removal from office, by impeachment, of the Governor of Kirinyaga County.

The midmorning meeting also saw Sen Abshiro Halake elected to deputize the Chair who also serves as Deputy Minority Leader. Sen Halake garnered five votes against Sen Mwangi Githiomi’s four.

Reduction of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) allocation by KES 11.3billion through the Supplementary (COVID-19) Estimates no. 2 for the FY 2019/2020 had cast doubt on the potential success of the programme.

In a meeting on Monday between the Senate Committee on Health chaired by Sen Michael Mbito (Transnzoia) and Ministry of Health, it emerged the pandemic has provided fresh impetus for the recruitment of interns and skilled health workers across the counties.

The scale up of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – one of the Big Four Agenda – has run into headwinds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to spread across the country.