Kemsa’s hand in corrupt deals exposed
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority's offices in Industrial Area, Nairobi, as pictured on September 9, 2020.
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) colluded with companies supplying Covid-19 related materials to alter contracts mid-way by percentages that should have required a fresh tender advertisement, locking out other suppliers from the lucrative multimillion-shilling tenders.
National Assembly Public Investment Committee (PIC) established during the ongoing probe of Kemsa scandal that the agency would give a contract to a company to supply a substantially low quantities of Covid-19 materials, change the quantities midway without subject the process through competitive bidding as required by law.
Section 139 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015 stipulates that the varying of any contract by more than 25 percent higher than its initial quoted quantities should be advertised. This means that Kemsa and the companies involved committed an illegality, MPs found.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir-PIC heard that Satellite Medical solutions got a tender to supply 294 anti-static boots all valued at Sh440,000, which was later changed midway and the company asked to supply 33,510 pairs of boots and was paid Sh48.5 million.
Calculations shows that the contract was in this case varied by more than 10,000 per cent, way above the recommended 25 per cent.
Documents tabled before the committee indicate the contract awarded to Satellite Medical Solutions was signed by the suspended CEO Jonah Manjari, another Kemsa officer only identified as Mr Wanyonyi and Anne Karanja who is a co-director of the company.
