A call to review the controversial multibillion-shilling Managed Equipment Services (MES) scheme is gathering momentum as governors demand to be put at the centre of any renegotiation on the medical kits deal with the national government.
Governors have complained that MES has not offered value for money to counties, with previous attempts to terminate the scheme falling flat.
Council of Governors (CoG) Health Committee Chairperson Muthomi Njuki said the counties’ top priority is to halt payments to five firms involved in the deal.
The Tharaka Nithi governor said an extension of the lease was signed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration just before the August 9 General Election.
The signing extended the deal to 2025. The agreement, Mr Njuki now says, is shrouded in mystery.
He said that although the leasing deal provided some equipment that was not available to county hospitals, the devolved units have had to suffer because of clauses in the agreement, which allow suppliers to dictate when and how much county governments should pay them.
“Unless this is sorted out, a well-intentioned scheme whose aim was to ensure the provision of quality medical care in counties is going to fail,” Mr Njuki warned.
The renewed contract, he pointed out, means counties will have had the equipment for 11 years at the end of the current deal.
“Why are our people being forced to use the equipment for 11 years and pay for them very dearly? One cannot outsource the consumables, servicing or repairs. It is like a monopoly,” the second-term governor said.
“Unless we have a sub-contract to replace worn-out machines, refurbish others and deal with the issue of consumables, this [MES deal] is untenable,” he added.
The lease covers theatre, laboratory, renal, radiology and intensive care unit equipment. However, some devolved units have complained that they’re stuck with the equipment they don’t use for lack of personnel or expertise.
In 2021, it emerged that renal equipment was not being used in Lamu, Mandera, Tana River, Wajir and West Pokot while Busia, Samburu, Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot had no capacity to use theatre equipment seven years after receiving it.
At a CoG workshop in Naivasha last week, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire said the leasing idea was good but the manner in which it was being executed raised a lot of unanswered questions.
Ms Mbarire said governors were never included by the national government in making decisions on the lease agreement but have been forced to forgo at least Sh30 million annually, money that was deducted at source, to pay for the equipment.
Saying it was time to renegotiate the deal, Ms Mbarire cited punitive clauses that require suppliers only to provide consumables and servicing. “We must renegotiate the deal. It’s time for an open conversation between governors and the suppliers,” she said.
“Unless there is openness and renegotiation of the contract, [there is a risk that it could be used as a cash cow by certain people [to enrich themselves]. I believe there are some powerful people behind this scheme profiting while counties are ripped off every financial year. I don’t think it is right,” Ms Mbarire added.
She also raised value-for-money concerns, in the long run, insisting that extending the MES contract was not well thought out.
“The machines will be taken back by the suppliers in another three years. This means that we will have to get new machines before then or extend the contract,” she said.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir echoed Ms Mbarire’s sentiments, saying: “We must take a fresh look at the contract. The extension [was signed unilaterally] and we were just told we must accept the equipment.”
