The National Assembly has approved Patrick Omwanda Amoth as the new Director-General for Health, following a recommendation from both the National Assembly and Senate Health Committees.
The House approved the appointment after highlighting Amoth’s qualifications and his compliance with relevant legal provisions.
National Assembly’s departmental committee of health chairman Robert Pukose said that the joint health committees approved Amoth’s appointment after considering his suitability, competence, experience and integrity.
“Having taken into account its observations and findings, and pursuant to the Provisions of the Constitution, Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, (Cap. 7 F), the Health Act (Cap.241) the National Assembly Standing Orders and the Senate Standing Orders, recommend that Parliament approves the nomination of Dr. Patrick Omwanda Amoth, EBS for appointment as the Director General for Health under Section 16 of the Health Act, (Cap. 241),’ said Pukose.
The joint health committees of the National Assembly and the Senate had in June 2024, adopted a report recommending the appointment of Amoth as health DG after a vetting process.
The vetting followed a recommendation by former health cabinet secretary Susan Nakhumicha calling on Parliament to approve the appointment of Dr Amoth to the position, having acted as health DG for four years.
The two committees had until August 13, 2024 to prepare and submit their report on whether the acting DG was suitable to take over the position ahead of voting by MPs on the floor of the House.
Amoth had during his vetting, promised to, among other things, enhance the implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by preventing strikes that disrupt access to healthcare services for the public.
Speaking when he appeared before the vetting panel, the acting DG said that if approved by the House, he would also help increase resources to the Kenya Health Human Resource Advisory Council (KHHRAC) to ensure it effectively addresses the welfare of healthcare professionals.
He also outlined his plans to secure support for adequately resourcing KHHRAC to help manage human resources within the ministry of health and county governments to reduce industrial strikes.
“Frequent strikes in the healthcare sector have hindered the implementation of UHC, with inadequate handling of human resources being a primary cause,” he said.
KHHRAC is responsible for reviewing policies and establishing uniform standards for posting of interns to national and county government facilities.
It is also tasked with managing the transfer of healthcare professionals between different levels of government, overseeing welfare and service schemes and maintaining a master register of all health practitioners in the counties.
Amoth is currently the acting director-general for Health in the Ministry of Health, a position he has held since January 2020 after succeeding Dr John Masasabi. He had applied for the DG position, having served in an acting capacity.
He is also the Vice President of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation (WHO), representing the African region.
A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist of immense repute, Dr Amoth previously headed the directorate of public health at the ministry of health where he was in charge of intergovernmental relationships between national and county governments.
He spearheaded strategy development for effective delivery of health services in all the 47 counties in Kenya and was centrally involved in the inception and alignment of Universal Health Coverage for the country.
The acting DG currently leads a technical team that runs the country’s health services. At the height of Covid-19 pandemic, he led experts at the ministry of health to save the lives of Kenyans and prevent the spread of the virus.
Amoth also served as a medical superintendent at Kiambu Level Five Hospital, where he revamped maternal and child health initiatives.
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