Outgoing Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has defended the ministry’s decision to cancel a Sh4.9 billion contract as it was illegal, despite fears of legal damages.
The Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT) is a component of the Sh62 billion MES project by the government in realisation of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) plan.
The project was awarded to Seven Seas Technologies Limited on October 2, 2017, but it was cancelled on November 18, 2019 without notice or show-cause.
It was meant to connect all public hospitals from the remotest part of the country to a central database.
She explained that the illegality of the contract is predicated on strange clauses contrary to contents of tender documents.
She singled out the Government Letter of Support and the direct funders agreement as clauses that were “illegally” inserted into the contract.
The fact that the government was required to pay not only for services already undertaken at the time of termination but also an additional 80 percent of the remaining contractor’s fees was another reason.
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