President Ruto sends home Kemsa board, CEO and Public Health PS in graft purge

Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) Head Office Nairobi at Commercial Street, Industrial Area. FILE PHOTO | NMG

President William Ruto has sent home the entire board of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), including suspending the chief executive officer Terry Ramadhani, over the bungled Sh3.7 billion tender for the supply of treated mosquito nets for low-income households.

The President also fired Public Health Principal Secretary Dr Josephine Mburu.

He appointed former Housing Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera as the new board chair and Dr Andrew Mulwa, the head of preventive health at the Ministry of Health, as the new acting CEO.

Read: Terry Ramadhani: CEO on tough reforms at scandal-hit Kemsa

Kemsa is embroiled in a multibillion-shilling scandal that saw the Geneva-based Global Fund cancel the mosquito nets’ tender procurement amid concerns that a Chinese firm that met all the tender requirements had been unfairly knocked out.

Global Fund intended to have the treated mosquito nets distributed to low-income families across 23 counties by November this year to curb exposure to deadly malaria. Read Nation.Africa exposé on the scandal.

“The President has revoked the appointments of the chairperson and members of the board of directors of Kenya Medical Supplies Authority and suspended Terry Ramadhani, the Chief Executive Officer, and other concerned staff serving within the Ministry of Health,” reads a dispatch from State House.

Kemsa procurement process is alleged to have been flawed in favour of a bidder who did not meet mandatory requirements at the expense of an actual mosquito nets manufacturer.

China’s Tianjin Yorkool, was unfairly knocked out of the tender evaluation, prompting the Global Fund to demand action from the government.

Global Fund has since warned that the nets may not be distributed within the targeted time, heightening fears that millions of low-income families could be exposed to the deadly disease.

This is the latest scandal to hit Kemsa, which is still reeling from the flawed procurement of Covid-19 drugs and personal protective gear that rocked the agency at the peak of the pandemic.

The new members appointed to the Kemsa board on Monday are Hezbon Omollo, Bernard Bett, Dr Jane Masiga and Jane Mbatia.

→ [email protected]