SPEECH BY H.E.

MARGARET KENYATTA, THE FIRST LADY OF

THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, DURING THE HANDING OVER OF THE
20TH FULLY KITTED BEYOND ZERO MOBILE CLINIC TO UASIN
GISHU COUNTY ON FEBRUARY 24TH, 2015
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is with gratitude that I wish to thank you all for allowing us to train
for the First Lady's Half Marathon in the City of champions who have
also invested heavily in Eldoret town.
This is truly a great honour, as we have found ourselves rubbing
shoulders with some of the world's great marathon champions as
we do our high altitude training.
As you are all aware, the First Lady's Half Marathon is only a few days
away, on March 8th. In this case, there is no better place to extend an
invitation to you all to register for the marathon and join us in our
quest to save the lives of mothers and children.
I have no doubt that the cash prizes in both the 21Km and 10Km
marathons will be collected by one of your very own.
So far, we've distributed mobile clinics in 19 counties, with your
county receiving the 20th.
We will soon cross the midpoint of our journey, but what is important
to us, is that these clinics make a difference in saving the lives of
mothers and children, who would normally not be able to access
medical care.
Uasin Gishu is among Kenya's most populous counties; however, it is
ranked thirty-third (33) countrywide in terms of the total number of
people living with HIV.
This is a good indicator of the need to invest more in initiatives aimed
at containing the spread of the killer disease.
With continued investment and commitment in this area, Uasin Gishu
could see even fewer new HIV infections, which would greatly enhance
our national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS.

It is also important to note that with devolution, our counties are free
to exploit their strengths to support the various projects that are
needed to drive growth.
In Uasin Gishu, Sports Tourism is one such strength. It gives the
county a great opportunity to earn foreign exchange, that would be
beneficial in providing resources to target some of the challenges the
county faces.
With such resources, a great deal can be done to boost the healthcare
system in the county and subsequently help alleviate the plight of
vulnerable mothers, young girls and children.
A multi-sectoral approach, involving the national and county
governments as well as other stakeholders would be best suited in
enabling Uasin Gishu to tackle the challenges that plague the medical
sector.
With a teaching and referral hospital right in the center of Uasin Gishu,
the provision for better healthcare in the county is much easier than in
other counties. However, we must continue to join hands in this fight,
especially if we are to see an end to preventable maternal and child
deaths.
Let us make this fight our priority, and in so doing, help save
the lives of countless mothers and newborns!
I wish to thank your Governor, local leaders and the people of Uasin
Gishu for the warm welcome accorded to us today.
May I now request you to join me in handing over the 20 th mobile clinic
prodly sponsored by Bank of Africa to your Governor Jackson
Mandago, on behalf of the people of Uasin Gishu.
Thank you.