New report reveals more rot at Kemsa

Suppliers delivered Covid-19 items to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) even before they had been invited for the tenders, an audit has disclosed. 

And they were issued with commitment letters after they had supplied goods to Kemsa, according to a Public Procurement Regulatory Authority report.

The letters did not contain specific requirements contrary to the law which states that an accounting officer of a procuring entity shall prepare specific requirements relating to the goods.

Specification gives the correct and complete description of what is to be procured and supplied.

“However, giving an open commitment letter, gives the suppliers room to supply what they so wish, the quantity and the pricing of the items,” said the report.

“Most tenders were retrospectively negotiated and evaluated after deliveries. No evidence was provided to verify whether the price negotiation was based on a market survey. The pricing of the items came from the suppliers,” Mr Maurice Juma, PPRA Director-General, told the Senate Committee on Health and Ad-hoc Committee on Covid-19.

He added: “This is one reason why some companies supplied in excess while others supplied less because the quantity was not indicated to them.”

The report also indicated that the distribution of tenders to supply Cocid-19 items to Kemsa was skewed to favour some suppliers without evidence of justification.

The report also indicated that there was no quality assessment of health-related Covid-19 items supplied to Kemsa hence risking millions of lives.

The report tabled Wednesday, indicated that before any item is supplied, samples have to be taken for approval before the whole consignment is delivered. “It is always advisable that samples are taken through a thorough quality assessment before the tender is awarded. This was not the case with the Covid-19 tenders,” Mr Juma said.

Kebs

Kenya Bureau of Standards is the lead agency in coordinating inspection of goods at the country of origin leading to the issuance of Certificate of Conformity to ensure quality standards and the adherence to regulatory requirements. It emerged that some of the board members of Kebs supplied Covid-19 items to Kemsa.

During a virtual meeting, Meru Senator Mithika Linturi said he was aware that Ms Mary Wanja, a committee member at Kebs, is one of the directors at Angelica Medical Supplies that sold personal protective equipment, face masks and ventilators to Kemsa.

Angelica Medical Supplies supplied items worth Sh307 million to Kemsa. It is the same company that also supplied dialysis machines to 94 hospitals countrywide in the Medical Equipment Services (MES) scheme.

Narok senator Ledama ole Kina alleged that some of the board members had an interest in supplying the Covid-19 items and this had led to the removal of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) inspectors to ensure that they did not check the safety and quality of the items.

Prior to Kebs being tasked as the lead agency, that was the mandate of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board until their officials were kicked out of the ports of entry.

From the report, Health Principal Secretary, Susan Mochache is not off the hook yet as the authority fails to substantiate who was the originator of the letter directing Kemsa on procurement.

The authority has now recommended further investigation into the processes through which the tenders were initiated by the ministry and Kemsa.

The authority further recommends investigation of receipt and distribution of all the Covid-19 related goods by Kemsa, specifically the warehouse management at Embakasi warehouse.