THE UNFINISHED PROMISE: WHY KISII’S CANCER CENTRE DELAY CONTINUES TO COST LIVES

There’s a quiet exhaustion that settles over Kisii whenever talk turns to cancer. You hear it at matatu stages, in hospital corridors, and in late-night family meetings where relatives pool money for bus fare to Nairobi or Eldoret. A mother who sold a plot for chemotherapy far from home. A young man whose treatment keeps getting interrupted by the cost and distance of travel. These stories have become everyday reality for too many families in Kisii and wider South Nyanza because a facility meant to change everything remains unfinished.

The Kisii Cancer Centre, planned at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital and funded by government money plus loans from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and the Saudi Fund for Development, carried real promise. Officials spoke of reduced travel, earlier detection, and care closer to home for a region with high rates of cervical, breast, colorectal and oesophageal cancers. Years later it is still a work in progress—marked by warnings to contractors, progress reviews, and repeated assurances that completion is just around the corner.

President William Ruto has stood at the site and issued firm instructions. Contractors have been put on notice. Ministry officials have held meetings to clear bottlenecks. Progress has come in fits and starts. Equipment bought years ago has sat unused. What should have been straightforward delivery has become a drawn-out saga of delays that patients feel most keenly.

Cancer does not wait. Patients from Kisii, Nyamira and surrounding areas continue travelling long distances to Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, or other stretched centres. The journey itself becomes part of the illness: overnight buses, costly accommodation, lost income, and the strain of being far from family. Late presentation is common because local screening and treatment options remain limited. Families deplete savings and sell assets, yet still watch loved ones suffer interrupted care. Kenya records tens of thousands of new cancer cases and deaths each year. In Kisii, the absence of a fully operational centre turns statistics into personal tragedies.

The contrast with neighbouring counties stings. Kisumu has advanced oncology services at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and is expanding facilities through public-private partnerships. Patients there have more options closer to home. When one county progresses while another waits, questions of equity in healthcare become hard to ignore. South Nyanza carries a heavy cancer burden, yet the facility meant to serve it lags.

These delays are not unique. Auditor General reports have flagged stalled multi-billion-shilling health projects nationwide. In Kisii’s case, historical setbacks and contractor issues have prolonged the wait. Officials now speak of accelerated timelines. That is welcome. But families measure progress not in percentages, but in whether a mother can receive radiotherapy without leaving her children for weeks, or whether a diagnosis can be acted on quickly enough to improve outcomes.

Cancer care is not a luxury. It is a basic expectation under universal health coverage. Bringing specialised services nearer reduces pressure on national hospitals, cuts the financial toxicity of treatment, and improves survival through earlier intervention. Until the Kisii centre opens, the gap remains a daily burden.

It is fair to demand better. Contractors must deliver. Officials must keep pressure on timelines without repeated presidential interventions. Communities deserve transparency and realistic completion dates. Most of all, the people of Kisii and neighbouring areas deserve a centre that matches the need on the ground—not another delayed promise that leaves families navigating the disease alone and far from home.

The wait has already been too long. Every month of delay is measured in lives disrupted. Completing this centre on a firm schedule would restore dignity and hope to families who have carried the cost of its absence for far too long.