KEMSA Clean-Up: New Board Takes Charge, Says CS Nakhumicha
Thursday, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha stated that she is committed to overseeing change at the scandal-plagued Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA).
As the new KEMSA board assumed office alongside the agency’s staff. Who had been sent home pending investigations into a botched mosquito nets tender. Nakhumicha announced that the board’s first meeting would be held on Thursday to discuss the agency’s transformation.
“I request that the investigating officers provide us with the results promptly. After obtaining the results, we will conclude this matter. With this new board, cleanup begins today. “They will hold their first meeting today to develop a strategy for escaping this situation,” the CS said.
“The walls of Kemsa must be opened; we need to know what’s going on here, and that’s the responsibility I’ve given the board.”
In addition, Nakhumicha ordered all KEMSA employees who have been on leave or working from home to immediately report to their assigned workstations.
On Monday, President William Ruto revoked KEMSA board appointments. And appointed a new board with a chairperson and four board members.
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This is in the midst of an investigation into allegations of corruption and mismanagement of medical supplies at the agency. Which has resulted in the suspension of the CEO and three other employees.
The scandal involves a botched procurement process overseen by the Ministry of Health. Which put the nation on the verge of losing anti-malaria nets worth Ksh.3.7 billion from the Global Fund.
As part of its massive anti-malaria campaign. The Global Fund issued a multibillion-dollar bid for the supply of 10.2 million durable polyethylene and polyester nets. To be distributed between November of this year and July of the following year.
Locally, the tender was issued in January of this year but soon ran into difficulties. When the health ministry and the Global Fund disagreed on the specifications of the nets to be delivered. Resulting in a modification of the tender and its extension.
According to the evaluating committee, a total of 17 proposals were submitted, and only five were selected.
However, a review of the bids by the Global Fund revealed that five of them were ineligible.
Only two companies, Tianjin Yorkool and Premium Movers, who were deemed unsuitable by the tenders evaluation committee should have been cut, whereas Vka Polymers pvt, Shobikaa Impex, and Partec East Africa, who were ranked as qualified, should have been disqualified due to missing pagination.
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In its final evaluation of the bids. The Global Fund determined that the two responsive bids (Shobikaa for polyethylene nets and Partec East for polyester nets). Did not meet the mandatory documentation requirement and should not have advanced to the technical, financial, and post qualification phase.
The solicitation did not generate responsive bids.
This compelled the Global Fund to cancel the tender and offer it directly to its procurement arm Wambo.org, causing Kenya to lose hundreds of millions of shillings in funding.
If Kenya had handled the tender. KEMSA would have received 2% of the procurement fee, or Ksh.74 million. And 8% of the warehousing and distribution fee, or Ksh.295 million.
CS Nakhumicha stated on Thursday that KEMSA had not yet reached out to the Global Fund. But that Kenya’s relationship with the international health financing organization extends beyond the mosquito nets tender.
“The Global Fund and the Ministry of Health have been partners for a very long time, so it is part of the process that KEMSA communicates with the Global Fund to seek agreement on where they are in the process and whether to proceed. “We want to address why we received a No from the Global Fund so that in the future we receive a Yes,” the minister said.
KEMSA Clean-Up: New Board Takes Charge, Says CS Nakhumicha
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