By Steve Oni, Ilorin
Kwara State House of Assembly has called on the State Government to as a matter of urgency renovate and upgrade all state owned hospitals with state of the art equipment for improved healthcare delivery in the state.
This was part of the resolutions of the House on the report of its Committee on Health and Environment on the Deplorable Conditions Of General Hospitals And Other Health Facilities in Kwara State”.
It also called on the state government to recruit personnel, convert the casual staff currently in state hospitals to permanent staff and upgrade salaries of all health workers in the state to check brain drain in the health sector.
The House further called for intensified efforts on the Implementation of Kwara State Heath Insurance Scheme Law to ensure affordable healthcare for the people.
Hon Owolabi Olatunde Rasaq, Chairman of the committee, said the committee, which visited selected hospitals and health facilities across the state, observed that a number of such facilities had dilapidated structures and low patronage by patients.
The Committee also observed that the monthly subventions to hospitals in the state were grossly inadequate for their effective running.
The House has also urged the State Government to recall the list of 10 candidates presented to the National Judicial Commission by the State Judicial Service Commission for appointment as Judges.
The House took the decision after the consideration of the report of the House Committee on Ethics, Privileges And Judiciary on a petition titled “Violations Of And Non Compliance With The Constitutional And Statutory Provisions In The Process Of Appointment Of Five New High Court Judges By The Kwara State Judicial Service Commission: An Appeal For Rejection Of The Recommended candidates/Nominees”.
The House noted that shortlisting of the candidates was done in hazy circumstances and disregard of existing regulations on the provision of adequate facilities before new appointments are made.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Ganiyu Folabi Salahu while presenting the report noted that the committee observed that 73 people applied for appointment as High Court Judges but only 10 were invited by the Judicial Service Commission.
The Committee said the hazy manner the shortlisting was carried out led to “allegations of bias, nepotism and unfairness by stakeholders.”
Speaking on the two reports, the Speaker, Rt Hon (Engr) Yakubu Danladi Salihu directed the Clerk to the House to forward the resolutions of the House to the state government.
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