THE TRAGEDY IN KIAMBU CANNOT BE IGNORED

It is unconscionable that on the 127th day of the Kiambu doctors' strike, at least 136 newborns have lost their lives in our public hospitals. Let that sink in.

When the 2010 Constitution was enacted, it promised dignity, the right to life, and the highest attainable standard of health for every citizen. Yet, what we are witnessing today is a healthcare system that is choked with desperate patients and mourning parents who are met with silence, bureaucracy, and collapsed services.

This is not just a failure of Kiambu County leadership; it is a regime failure, right from the national level.

The so-called "managed" healthcare system is anything but managed. It is an act of impunity where deductions are made from the people, but they are treated as expendable when they seek access to healthcare.

Instead of saving lives, SHA has become another layer of inefficiency and political talk, detached from the suffering on the ground and deaf to the people's cries. We are angry because a child dying daily as a result of political failure is unacceptable.

This government is incapable of guaranteeing the most basic right: the right to life. It's time for a reset to the politics of compassion demanded by our Constitution when it promises a right to inherent dignity and to universal healthcare for all Kenyans.