MPs to summon Kemsa board over mass sacking
Chairperson of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority Board Mary Chao Mwadime addressing the media on November 4, 2021.
The National Assembly will summon the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) board to explain the fate of some 600 workers sent home for 30 days amid a restructuring.
Kemsa has more than 900 workers and only 341 who provide essential services will be retained.
Speaking in Mombasa during a stakeholder meeting to deliberate on the high cost of healthcare in Kenya and the Health Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, the chairperson of the Select Committee on Health, Ms Sabina Chege, said Parliament will investigate the matter further.
"We want to know what the board has unearthed that has led to the sacking. We only probed the issues of Covid-19 and procurement scandals but we didn't touch on the workers,” she said.
“We have no mandate over hiring or sacking but as Kenyans, we equally want to know what's happening at Kemsa. The board is new. They are yet to come to Parliament to explain to us what they are doing."
The board, she said, will explain their plans after the “mass sacking”.
On Thursday, Kemsa announced that all non-core staff will work from home for 30 days.
Personnel from the National Youth Service (NYS) will manage operations at the agency temporarily.
The chairperson of the Kemsa board, Mary Chao Mwadime, said the move followed findings that the agency is underperforming and is unable to deliver services to Kenyans.
Some of the problems revealed were lack of financial control, uncollected debts, supply chain, warehousing and distribution problems, dead stock and purchasing of non-priority items.
Lawmakers also decried the high cost of healthcare in both public and private hospitals.
"We have seen Kenyans grappling with the high cost of healthcare, with hospitals detaining bodies and patients (for unpaid bills). We want all agencies involved to explain how we can bring down the cost of medical services," Ms Chege said.
