Health PS Susan Mochache instructed the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) on the supplies to be bought, prices and where.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Health, board chair Kembi Gitura made the revelation citing a letter dated April 15 addressed to suspended CEO Jonah Manjari.
“We received a letter from the Ministry of Health containing a list of where we should procure from, the prices and the quantity. I can vouch on the quality of PPEs we procured,” Gitura said.
In the letter, PS Mochache had preset prices for the equipment, a directive the Kemsa acting Procurement Officer Edward Buluma said was not procedural.
“This is to approve the procurement of goods worth Sh758, 690,583 as outlined in the annex. Disregard all other requests made in relation to Covid as they have been captured under this approval,” the letter from PS Mochache read in part.
Documents tabled before the Sabina Chege-led committee indicate that several companies including Megascope Healthcare, Tikasan Holdings Co Ltd, KEMA Ltd, Medilab and Applied Products supplied Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the agency.
Megascope then supplied face masks worth Sh91.3 million Tikasan Sh4.4 million while Applied Products made Sh417,000, from goods supplied.
MPs want the agency to halt payment of the remaining contracts since they were procured irregularly.
For instance, Kemsa owes F and S Scientific Ltd some Sh25.4 million, Chemoquip Ltd some Sh4.1 million and Faram Limited some Sh3.2 million.
Kemsa still has in storage equipment worth Sh6.4 billion for which they are seeking approval from the Ministry of Health to sell at a loss.
If allowed to sell, the agency will make a Sh2.4 billion loss.
On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered investigative agencies to conclude investigations into graft allegations at the agency.
Moments later, the head of state demoted Mochache to Medical Services.
An hour or so later, through the State House spokesperson Kanze Dena, the president retracted the demotion.
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