When Machakos nurses joined the nationwide strike, Senator Agnes Kavindu Muthama rushed to the nearest health centres—not with solutions, but with television cameras in tow. In full glare of the media, she decried a crisis she has done nothing to avert, forgetting that her core duty in the Senate is to secure funding for her county. While other senators fight fiercely for bigger slices of the national revenue, Kavindu has treated the Senate as a rest house, content to collect allowances and make flippant remarks like telling Machakos guests they “shouldn’t leave without eating” because there was “enough tea and a strong lunch.” In one careless comment, she confirmed what many already suspect ,she is in Nairobi for the perks, not the people.
Meanwhile, Governor Wavinya Ndeti has been quietly fixing the mess left behind by her predecessors. She found Machakos in an economic ICU, with recurrent expenditure swallowing nearly all revenue, and turned it around by doubling Own Source Revenue from KSh 1.09 billion to KSh 2.2 billion, targeting KSh 4.1 billion. In the FY 2025/2026 budget, she allocated a record 31% KSh 4.69 billion—to healthcare, with KSh 3.2 billion going to pay health workers. This is fiscal discipline as envisioned in the Constitution: 30% for development, 70% for recurrent expenditure, despite limited national transfers. Yet Kavindu has never fought for more equitable share funds for Machakos, nor demanded answers for delayed disbursements from the National Treasury that stall county projects.
Had Kavindu been paying attention, she would know Machakos’ healthcare sector has seen major progress under Wavinya: 132 nurses promoted in 2023; 57 recruited in 2024; 183 employed and deployed in 2025; 231 promoted earlier this year; and 42 more currently being hired. Just in addition , all nurses with more than seven years of service were promoted, with the rest scheduled for next year. These are not publicity stunts but tangible actions backed by budgets, planning, and dialogue with unions a far cry from political photo ops.
The truth is simple: Kavindu has been missing in action where it matters most on the Senate floor, in budget negotiations, and in holding the Treasury accountable. Her newfound concern for striking nurses is nothing more than a cover for years of neglect. Machakos doesn’t need a senator who wakes up only when the cameras are rolling. It needs a fighter in the Senate, not a spectator with a lunch pass.
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