A heated showdown erupted in the National Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday as Health CS Aden Duale faced off with Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi over the controversial closure of health facilities linked to alleged fraud.
During the tense exchange, the CS boldly declared:
"I have closed your hospitals,"
to which Kibagendi fired back:
"I have no hospitals and I have never owned even a dispensary. That is the strategy you use to hide. You need to answer questions. We are not your children; you cannot come and lecture us. Who are you? Just because you are the President's friend."
Ignoring calls from the committee chairperson Seme MP James Nyikal, Kibagendi insisted that he did not own the facilities in question. Duale, however, continued pressing, warning:
"We have closed your hospitals, and if possible, we will charge you in a court of law."
The confrontation intensified as Duale engaged in another altercation with Nandi Woman Representative Cynthia Muge, accusing her of intimidation while deflecting from key SHA issues. He further accused multiple committee members of owning hospitals, claiming:
"Some of the members of this committee have facilities. If you want me to name them, I will name them and I will give them to you. They should not be in this committee."
Speaking on Facebook after the clash, Kibagendi alleged that Duale was using the hospital accusations to avoid accountability on SHA mismanagement:
"Each time I ask CS Duale hard questions about SHA, he quickly switches to saying he has closed my hospitals, which I don’t even know. Why can't he openly say which hospitals I own, when they were registered, and who are my proxies? Only then should he answer questions about the inadequacies and conflicts of interest he has in SHA."
The explosive confrontation left the committee in disarray, with only three lawmakers remaining to continue the session.
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