Kemsa kit suppliers to wait longer for Sh5bn

Suppliers who delivered Covid-19 related items would wait longer after the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) procured Covid-19 related items worth Sh5.1 billion without a budget.

The agency made commitments to suppliers to deliver goods without confirming the availability of funds from the Ministry of Health.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has since stopped the Kemsa from making any payments to suppliers until investigations into the procurement of Covid-19 items worth Sh7 billion is concluded.

Parliament heard that Kemsa overshot the Sh758 million budget set by the Health ministry to procure Covid-19 related items worth Sh5.1 billion.

The ministry, through funds secured from World Bank, had directed the Kemsa to procure personal protective equipment (PPE), face masks, laboratory sample collection and transportation consumables, laboratory test kits and reagents for a total budget of Sh758 million.

Health PS Susan Mochache told the Public Investments Committee (PIC) that the ministry on March 18 ordered Kemsa to procure 25,000 PPE kits, 10,000 pieces of N95 masks, 6,000 laboratory sample collection and transportation consumables and 6,000 laboratory test kits, supplies and reagents.

But the agency on April 1, submitted a report to the ministry, which showed it had entered into supplies commitments worth Sh2.18 billion of Covid-19 items out of which goods worth Sh149.1 million had been delivered leaving a balance of Sh2 billion.

Ms Mochache said she directed Kemsa on April 6 to align the budget with Sh758 million the ministry had allocated.

She said the ministry was not aware that Kemsa had procured goods beyond the Sh2.1 billion it had disclosed until June 22 when Treasury PS Julius Muia drew her attention to a request of Sh5.1 billion by Kemsa to pay suppliers. The PS rejected Kemsa’s request after it failed to clarify whether the commitment was made without confirmation of the availability of funds from the Health ministry.