Economy

MPs linked to Kemsa Covid supplier in scandal probe

mule-mp

Matungulu MP Stephen Mule is said to have worked for the firm 20 years ago. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NMG

A company that won a Sh50 million tender to supply Covid-19-related ventilators and sterile surgical gloves to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) has sensationally claimed some MPs previously worked for it.

Mr Shilen Thakerar, managing director of the firm known as Crown Healthcare Services told the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) that former Health committee member and Matungulu MP Stephen Mule previously worked for the company that was incorporated in 1998.

He said Mr Mule and another MP “whose name he could not recall” worked for the medical equipment company nearly 20 years ago.

He, however, distanced the MPs from any wrongdoing, saying they did not influence the award of tenders for the supply of Covid-19 items to Kemsa.

“We were first certified as Crown Equipment Ltd, then Crown Gases Ltd and Crown Solutions Ltd. Some of our employees have gone to become MPs including Stephen Mule and another MP, that I will recall shortly,” Mr Thakerar said.

He told the committee chaired by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir that his company has been supplying medical equipment to Kemsa for the last 10 years.

“We have been supplying sterile gloves to Kemsa since 2014. I will table a document showing that we were pre-qualified by Kemsa as suppliers during Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Mr Thakerar said they supplied Sh50 million goods after receiving confirmations from Kemsa to reserve and supply the items on stock availability.

“Kemsa called us and followed it with an email to check whether we had stocks. Our company did not issue letters of intent to deliver the ventilators and sterile surgical gloves but were called by Kemsa to supply the ventilators and surgical gloves.

The committee is investigating firms implicated in a special audit on the procurement of Sh7.8 billion Covid-19 items that showed billions might have been misappropriated or stolen.