KEMSA scandal: Governors renew calls for direct procurement of medical supplies

The Council of Governors has renewed calls to have counties allowed to procure drugs and other medical equipment directly after increased corruption claims at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, KEMSA.



CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said counties are able to procure directly, instead of going through KEMSA which is riddled in corruption.



KEMSA’s Chief Executive Officer Jonah Manjari was last week suspended alongside three officials, over corruption claims involving donor funds running into billions, including others earmarked for the COVID-19 emergency response.



While Manjari has defended the institution, damning audit reports show massive irregularities which are now subject of investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, EACC.



“You have seen the exploitation of KEMSA to counties and also the corruption that currently witnessed there especially in the purchases of COVID-19 commodities. Our position is that we should be allowed to buy from wherever so long as the process is competitive and those products are of high quality,” Oparanya said on Sunday.



The Kakamega Governor said KEMSA had taken advantage of its monopoly to shortchange Kenyans.



“The institution of the Kenya Bureau of Standards acts as a safeguard to ensure that the goods being imported into the country are of high quality, so with that provision alone, there is no way Governors will buy substandard products,” he said.



Governors had opposed the amendment to the KEMSA Act by seeking redress at the High Court to challenge Section 3 of the Act which requires County Governments to procure both pharmaceutical and non- pharmaceutical supplies from the Authority.