Why Bill Gates visited Makueni County, had an interest in two main projects
Bill Gates toured Makueni County to conduct a benchmarking exercise and lay groundwork for future partnerships, according to area governor, Mutula Kilonzo.
Makueni governor Mutula Kilonzo issued a statement on Tuesday, November 15, after meeting the American billionaire detailing the intended purpose of the visit.
“We are privileged as a county to have hosted the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates.
“It is a trip that we have organized for a while,” Mutula told members of the press.
“The trip had two purposes, First, primary health care, especially in hospitals in Kathonzweni and Wote.
“Secondly, to see how residents of Makueni are using smart farming to combat climate change,” Mutula added.
Bill Gates was particularly intrigued in how the Wote Mother and Child Hospital delivered high-quality medical care to locals despite only receiving partial funding from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).
“Gates was interested in an innovation we have started in all our health facilities called The Commodity Platform that provides us with all data about our healthcare workers and pharmaceutical drugs in our facilities,” Mutula explained.
“He had a very keen interest in field rate, seeking to know how we cope with the problem of receiving only 50 percent of what we require from KEMSA and how we plug in the gaps,” Mutula said.
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Apart from visiting county health care centres in the region, Gates also visited residents of Makueni to know how they were coping with the ravages of climate change.
“Bill Gates has visited a private farm practicing smart agriculture which he is very passionate about, and he will later speak about effects of climate change and food security,” Mutula told the press.
Mutula speaking on how the county will benefit from the visit, noted that the county had made a presentation for Gate’s consideration.
“We have prepared a presentation on food security, agriculture and value chain and aim to get funding from the Ksh170 billion the foundation has given out towards mitigating adverse effects of climate change,” the governor announced.
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