- This comes after the Global Fund cancelled the tender, which could have seen Kemsa get Sh370 million in revenue through warehousing and transport logistics.
- The Fund's audit raised an issue with Kemsa's technical evaluation committee report, citing multiple procurement gaps.
Image: FILE
President William Ruto has made changes at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) after an allegation of a new scandal hit the agency.
The changes saw the Former Chairperson of the Kemsa board Daniel Rono and his members fired.
The latest scandal involved a bungled Sh3.7 billion mosquito net deal, which risks leaving millions of low-income households at risk of contracting Malaria.
This comes after the Global Fund cancelled the tender, which could have seen Kemsa get Sh370 million in revenue through warehousing and transport logistics.
The cancellation is over irregularities in the procurement process that the agency argues were skewed in favour of one of the bidders.
Global Fund's audit raised an issue with Kemsa's technical evaluation committee report, citing multiple procurement gaps.
It also dismissed the companies listed as the award winners, which included Partec East Africa Limited and Shobikaa Impex.
Shobikaa appeared to be non-existent on the database of the registrar of companies, which ex-Kemsa CEO Terry Ramadhani defended saying it was an international company.
Ramadhani said Shobikaa is an Indian company, adding that the tender was an open international tender.
"The product is what is registered in PPB in Kenya. So of course you are not going to find it," she added.
In its audit, the Global Fund said the companies did not meet mandatory requirements, adding that they should not have proceeded to the post-qualification phase.
The Fund is now seeking to move the process into its internal procurement protocols, denying the country Sh600 million.
Kemsa started making headlines over claims of corruption and mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Then, some Sh7.8 billion was pocketed by individuals who came to be popularly referred to as 'Covid Millionaires'.
The money was intended to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and hospitals, and other essential health facilities at the peak of the pandemic.
Kemsa was accused of awarding the Covid -19 tenders to companies that had been formed just weeks earlier.
Documents submitted to the Senate committee showed that one company, Shop and Buy Limited, got tenders worth Sh1,370,000,000, despite being formed in February 2020.
This was weeks before the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the country.
The company denied any wrongdoing.