Githu cleared Sh63bn health project, letter shows

A day after saying his advice was ignored by the Ministry of Health, the Nation has obtained a confidential letter indicating that former Attorney Githu Muigai gave the greenlight to the Sh63 billion Managed Equipment Service (MES) programme

The July 14, 2015 letter shows Prof Muigai told the ministry it was okay to sign the deals with five contractors in relation of the multibillion-shilling project.

“My office has independently reviewed the MES contracts and we hereby ascertain their validity and further confirmed the obligations of the government expressed in the transaction documents constitute legal and binding obligations,” the letter by Prof Muigai says.

ENGAGE CONTRACTORS

“It is my opinion that the letters of support as enclosed are in a satisfactory form for execution by the National Treasury. Arising from the above, my office clears the MES contracts as well as the government letters of support as modified.”

Though, on Wednesday, he admitted authorising the ministry to engage contractors and even sign pre-contracts, they were to come back for review and final inking of the agreement.

“The greenlight was for the ministry to go back and negotiate the final contract. This meant they would not sign them. They would negotiate with the vendors and then send them to me for review,” he said.

The MES contract was initially at Sh38 billion but the cost was later escalated after variation to approximately Sh63 billion.

The leasing deal was signed between international firms and the ministry at State House in May 2015. Every county pays Sh200 million annually for a fixed term of seven years.

Dr Cleopa Mailu, then Health Cabinet secretary on Thursday told a Senate committee that he was kept in the dark over project.

Dr Mailu, who served in the Cabinet from 2015 to 2018, told the Senate ad hoc committee investigating the project that he was never given permission to access the contractual documents.

COULD NOT UNDERSTAND

He added that when he asked for the documents, he was told it was “top secret”.

“I remember asking for the documents. Parliament also asked me for the same documents. As a minister, I wondered what the secret was,” said Dr Mailu, now Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I did not understand what was in the files that could not be given to the Cabinet Secretary and a parliamentary committee.”

Dr Mailu added that despite not understanding details of the contract, he tried his best to ensure the project succeeded.

He said the project management unit informed him of challenges faced in installing the machines.

Dr Mailu said the equipment, which sunk billions of taxpayers’ shillings, ended up in an unprepared county health system.

He said most hospitals had no space for the equipment since most devolved governments provided decrepit and old buildings in need of renovations.

DIFFICULT MOMENTS

The former CS said some equipment is still lying idle since many hospitals are not connected to electricity. “The preparation by county governments was inadequate,” he said.

He added that he operated alone on many occasions, especially during difficult moments.

“My tenure at the Ministry of Health was very challenging, especially when it came to the implementation of this project,” Dr Mailu said.

He distanced himself from the variation of the contract, saying, the question can be best handled by accounting officers at the ministry.

 “It’s unfortunate you could not get documents from your own ministry in the same government you served,” Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula told Dr Mailu.

Dr Mailu told the lawmakers that he thought everything relating to the project had been cleared when he assumed office.

“I believed the project, whose contract was signed at State House, had been cleared. Mine was to ensure it was executed. The committee can go back and get information from my predecessors,” he said.