Residents of Kisumu County are finding it hard to pay for various services such as medical and parking fee after the County government introduced a cashless revenue collection system.
On July 1, Kisumu County Secretary Olang’o Onudi gave out an executive order directing all departments in the county to migrate revenue collection to the new system that would use mobile money transfer.
This means that all Kisumu County residents are now required to pay for services such as parking fees and medication through M-Pesa.
The move to automate revenue collection even in hospitals seems to have caught patients off guard.
Caren Kiarie, a paralegal based in Ahero says that the County government should come up with a plan to help survivors of gender based and domestic violence.
She says that the survivors are forced to flee and seek medication without money, leave alone mobile phones.
“I visited Ahero sub county hospital and I can say that the process is a mess and for sure Kisumu County will lose lots of revenue due to lack of awareness,” she posted in a local watts up group.
“Women are most affected because they do not have phones and the ones that have didn't have cash in their M-Pesa. Could the government think of how they could exempt the registration where you are required to pay thirty shillings before treatment? The process is stressful and could affect even sexual gender based violence cases that are supposed to be free,” she added.
On Monday night, 21 year old Steve Austin Juma bled for several minutes at the Ahero Sub-County hospital after he was allegedly denied emergency services over the thirty shillings fee.
Juma waited as a Good Samaritan who had taken him to hospital sought help from friends to send him the Sh30 on mobile money so he could pay for the services.
He had been attacked as he headed home from watching a World Cup match at night.
#hivisasaoriginal