The woes of suspended Kemsa CEO Jonah Manjari continued to pile Wednesday after Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe and Principal Secretary Susan Mochache distanced themselves from the agency’s multi-billion-shilling Covid-19 scandal.
Mr Kagwe told the National Assembly’s Health Committee, which is investigating the scandal, that at no time did he instruct Mr Manjari to break rules in procurement of Covid-19 materials.
And as the clock ticks towards the three weeks given by President Kenyatta to unravel the mystery of the alleged loss of Covid-19 billions at the medical supplies agency, it is now turning out to be a blame game between the ministry and Kemsa bosses on who should take responsibility for the mess.
Although CS Kagwe admitted giving instructions to Kemsa CEO on a number of issues related to Covid-19 supplies, he said that was not a ticket to commit a crime or act in an illegal way.
Mr Kagwe said in any government operation, if an illegal instruction is given, then a recipient has a right to ask that it be put in writing, which Kemsa didn’t do.
“At no time did I propose to anyone not to follow procurement rules. If you go wrong then it’s not because the CS told you, it’s because you’re a poor manager,” Mr Kagwe said.
The CS explained to the Sabina Chege-led committee that when the country was in crisis as the positive cases continued to soar after the first case, he was communicating constantly with agencies under the ministry to provide solutions to Kenyans.
“I have engaged Kemsa repeatedly and it’s my job to do so. We consult continuously. However, it’s not my job to tell someone to commit an irregularity,” Mr Kagwe said.
“It is not my job to micro-manage agencies under the ministry. I was communicating directly with Kemsa because everyone across the country was screaming for Personal Protective Equipment and it would have been irresponsible for me to just sit in my office and wait for things to happen.”
Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache told MPs at no time did she write any letter to Kemsa directing on how to go about procurement.
“At no time did the ministry give Kemsa a list of suppliers. What we did as a ministry was to rationalise the budget that was presented to us,” Ms Mochache said.
“I only wanted to ensure that their budget was within the Sh758 million as provided by the World Bank.”
Last week, Kemsa board chairman Kembi Gitura told the same committee that the agency received a letter dated April 15 and signed by PS Mochache with specifications on where to procure, listing specific suppliers they were to source from, as well as the prices.
Mr Kagwe further told Kemsa to carry their own cross in surpassing their budget, terming the move as irresponsible.
“If you surpassed the budget approved by the board, then you’re personally responsible for that decision,”CS Kagwe said
The medical agency spent Sh7.2 billion on procurement of Covid-19 materials without approval of the board against the approved budget by board of Sh4.5 billion.
On Friday, Mr Manjari told the committee that he would occasionally receive phone calls and text messages from either Mr Kagwe or Ms Mochache on issues related to procurement.
