US Ambassador Kyle McCarter Shames Kericho Governor Chepkwony for ‘Relaunching’ Equipment Donated by the US

US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter on Sunday called out Kericho Governor Prof. Paul Chepkwony after he unveiled medical equipment donated by the US early this year.

Chepkwony, through Twitter, posted images of the equipment saying it will help the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KeMRI) laboratory in Kericho to carry out Covid-19 tests.

“I am proud to unveil mass COVID-19 testing at the KEMRI/Walter Reed Laboratory in Kericho today. 
We are proud of our collaboration with KEMRI which means that we can now conduct up to 2000 COVID19 tests per day.”

"The equipment is top-notch and the KEMRI lab in Kericho is one-of-its-own kind. We no longer need to send any samples of suspected persons to Kisumu or Nairobi for analysis," he tweeted.

Ambassador McCarter responded to Governor Chepkwony’s tweet, questioning why he failed to acknowledge that the equipment was donated by the US.

"I have never once heard who bought this equipment. You mean this equipment bought by the USA unveiled January 30th, 2020?" McCarter posed.

This forced Prof. Chepkwony to make another tweet clarifying that the equipment was indeed donated by the US.

"Yes, indeed Amb McCarter. I acknowledge and appreciate the huge role that the United States has played in this process as I mentioned in my statement attached. What we launched yesterday was the deployment of this equipment towards mass testing for COVID-19.”

"It was not possible to launch testing immediately because the equipment had to be reconfigured and reagents for use in testing of COVID-19 needed to be procured as well to enable the tests to take place," Chepkwony explained.

McCarter replied: "We are collaborating well indeed. We will win against this virus together.”