President William Ruto has sacked the Health PS and the entire board of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority.
Allegedly a Sh3.7 billion tender for treated mosquito nets, paid for by the Global Fund, had been mishandled by Kemsa with key elements being changed after the closing date.
Ruto's decisive action has won plaudits all round. Kenya is plagued by corruption and a crackdown is long overdue.
There were also question marks over the Sh7 billion supply of personal protective equipment during the Covid epidemic.
The Health PS Josephine Mburu only took office in December so obviously she could not have been involved in the PPE scandal. But to what extent was this an internal scam at Kemsa and to what extent were external players involved?
Too often in Kenya people are accused of corruption and eventually the case goes away.
If President Ruto really wants change, if he really wants to cut out corruption from the system, then he needs to go one step further and set up a commission of enquiry into what went wrong at Kemsa, focussing on both the tenders for the bed nets and for the PPE during the Covid epidemic.
Quote of the day: "Particularly with the blues, it's not just about bad times. It's about the healing spirit."
Taj Mahal
The American blues singer was born on May 17, 1942
