The Kenya Medical Supplies Agency scandal involving mismanagement of the Global Fund project tender worth Sh3.7 billion for the supply of treated mosquito nets to millions of low-income households is the latest corruption scandal to dog our country.
Many Kenyans are now exposed to the danger of contracting malaria due to negligence of a few officers.
The World Health Organization estimates that 241 million people contract the disease every year. Only a small fraction of malaria victims die from it, but those who die are the very weakest, about three out of four malaria victims are children.
The cancellation of the tender saw Kenya lose a Sh3.7 billion Global Fund tender to supply the Ministry of Health with more than 10 million insecticide treated nets for mass distribution later in the year.
It is condemnable and abhorrent that public officers can deliberately bungle such an important tender at a time the government is trying all it can to deal with the scourge of corruption.
Not all the time the President William Ruto gets the plaudits, but this time he deserves credit for the immediate action he took to arrest the situation at Kemsa.
The President swiftly moved and removed from office those who were deemed highly responsible for bungling the tender. The head of state raided Kemsa board and sent the entire board home. Top officials of the agency were also not spared.
Ruto’s double-edged sword also fell on key ministry officials who had their hands soiled by the scandal.
This is not the first time Kemsa is facing corruption allegations. In 2020, more than Sh7.7 billion was mishandled whereby the agency lost Sh1.5 billion in shady deals for the procurement of Covid-19 personal protective equipment, prompting then President Uhuru Kenyatta to send the entire board parking in April.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission cited irregular expenditure arising from tenders awarded to individuals and companies with political connections. The companies that were awarded tenders inflated the prices of items they supplied above market rates and some supplied air at a time Kenyans were being terrorised by corona virus.
Even though the board was sent home and investigations launched into the matter, there is nothing to write home about the results of the investigations of the whole saga as no one has ever been held accountable for the scam.
Worryingly, the manner in which the companies won tenders was laughable. Kenyans were treated to a circus when the committee investigating the matter was told by one of the company directors that she just walked into Kemsa offices and won a tender. This scam gave rise to the infamous Covid billionaires.
Let us call a spade a spade. What is happening at Kemsa is utterly unacceptable. Individuals with greed for quick cash have made the agency a cash cow where they swindle taxpayers out of their hard earned cash with reckless abandon.
The politically connected individuals are brazenly bleeding the drugs agency out of any little cash because they feel nothing will happen to them.
It is high time we deal with endemic corruption both in the agency and in other government ministries and departments.
We can no longer allow public funds to vanish into the pockets of individuals whose actions not only paint the name of the government in bad light, but also endangers the lives of innocent Kenyans who have waited for eternity for the corrupt to be tamed in vain.
Corruption as a vice continues to undermine democratic institutions worldwide. Without strong commitments focused on political integrity, tackling systemic inequalities, safeguarding threats to democracy and having a more citizen-centred democracy will be even more difficult.
These corrupt, interconnected practices which have continued to be impediments to good governance have ultimately lowered the quality of public services, diverted aid away from those most in need, deepened inequality and eroded the trust between citizens and the state.
That’s why I have commended the President’s move to clean up Kemsa. Kenyans need action against theft and thieves of public funds. We must move away from the previous approach where it was all talk with no action. I have no shred of doubt that the Kenya Kwanza government has the will to deal with corruption.
Furthermore, the courts have been accused of being the weakest link in the fight against corruption. Cases take eternity in courts and some suspects are quick to run to court to seek anticipatory orders to evade arrest.
In as much as everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the courts must desist from being misused by corrupt individuals for their own personal gain.
In addition, EACC and other investigative and prosecutorial agencies have the obligation to ensure evidence adduced in court against suspects is ironclad in order to procure judgments in their favour.
They must also ensure those at the top of the corruption food chain are nabbed, not only the small fish. For unless we stop scratching the surface and the corrupt are confined in jail, Kenyans will not trust the process.
MDG Party Leader and Ugenya MP
