• Manjari had said that at the time, Health PS Susan Mochache was directing his office to procure the items, they already had a list of companies that had the capacity to supply them.
•But responding to the claims, Kagwe said that the pressure from his ministry applies equally to all staff when other matters have to be carried out.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has said that his ministry is determined to clear every single issue in doubt regarding the ongoing probe surrounding Covid-19 ‘theft funds’.
Kagwe, who appeared before the National Assembly Health Committee on Wednesday, said that the ministry will not protect anybody linked to irregularities.
“We have no intention of protecting anybody, we have no intention of hiding anything. I will do my best to clarify any issues,” Kagwe said.
Suspended Kemsa CEO Jonah Manjari had claimed when he appeared before the Senate Health and Ad Hoc Committee on Covid-19 that he received numerous calls, messages, and emails from top ministry officials to award tenders for the provision of various items.
I was at a bit of a loss when I was told that I'm giving directives or I'm trying to influence or I'm putting pressure. Madam Chair I put pressure on each and every person in my ministry at that time.Health CS Mutahi kagwe.
Manjari had said that at the time, Health PS Susan Mochache was directing his office to procure the items, they already had a list of companies that had the capacity to supply them.
But responding to the claims, Kagwe said that the pressure from his ministry applies equally to all staff when other matters have to be carried out.
"I was at a bit of a loss when I was told that I'm giving directives or I'm trying to influence or I'm putting pressure. Madam Chair I put pressure on each and every person in my ministry at that time."
The CS added that "I am the one who gave direct policy that going forth because of the high cost of PPEs globally at that time, we were able and zero in on local production of the same materials which cut the cost from Sh9,000 to Sh4,300."
The committee chaired by Sabina Chege had earlier sent away top Transport ministry officials, saying the team was unprepared to respond to its questions.
The transport ministry was represented by Health CAS Chris Obure during the afternoon session.
He appeared before the committee to explain the ministry's role in the clearing of Jack Ma Foundation donations.
Obure had told the committee that all the donations were cleared exclusively by the government clearing agency.
"The document before us from the ministry is not well prepared. We need to compare what was donated, what was received, and what actually ended up in the warehouse," Chege said.
The Health committee probing the loss of Covid-19 funds demanded written submissions.