Two young Kenyan innovators have caught the eye of President Uhuru Kenyatta for manufacturing hospital beds locally.
Mungai Gathogo, 26, and Joseph Muhinja, 35, who are based in Githunguri, Kiambu County and who rely on locally assembled material to make a hospital issue beds have a month and a half to deliver 500 beds following President Kenyatta’s intervention.
On Wednesday, the Head of State dispatched the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) Secretary Andrew Wakahiu and Kiambu County Commissioner Wilson Wanyanga to Githunguri to assess the beds and convey the government’s decision.
“I have been sent by His Excellency the President to congratulate the young innovators and to confirm the Government’s commitment to supporting local innovations and products by providing a market for our own under the Buy-Kenya-Build-Kenya policy,” Wakahiu said.
President Kenyatta has given a major boost to two youthful innovators behind locally manufactured hospital beds by instructing the Government to immediately procure 500 beds. The beds are an innovation by 26-year-old Mungai Gathogo and Joseph Muhinja, 35. #GoKDelivers ^LC pic.twitter.com/C3wKevcBQu
— PDU Delivery (@PDUDelivery) July 15, 2020
The beds will be a vital aid to public hospitals that are reeling under the pressure of Covid-19 pandemic.
Their innovation was caught the eye of the president after the beds started trending on social media.
Wakahiu said the beds will be subjected to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) protocols on their suitability for hospital use.
The Government will also rope in the Numeric Machining Complex, which is tasked with incubating engineering innovations to help the budding entrepreneurs with equipment and to hasten the production.
He said the Government was keen on promoting local innovators and manufacturers in line with the manufacturing pillar of the Big Four Agenda.
During a state address on July 6, President Kenyatta announced the phased reopening of the economy, adding that the focus has to shift from reliance on bailouts to innovative solutions to problems brought about by the coronavirus.
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