At least six county governments denied the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) nearly Sh1 billion by illegally purchasing drugs and other essential medical supplies from private firms.
The Health Laws (Amendment) Act,2019, grants Kemsa absolute monopoly in the supply of drugs to the public, making it mandatory for both national and county health facilities to obtain drugs and medical supplies from it.
An Auditor-Generals report for the 2022/2023 financial year has revealed that some six counties have opened up the lucrative drugs procurement space to private players.
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Senators have been pushing to have counties allowed to procure drugs and other medical supplies from private entities,a proposal that has been vehemently opposed by the Ministry of Health.
During the 2022/2023 financial year Nakuru County for instance irregularly procured drugs and pharmaceuticals worth Sh525,102,285 from private entities against a total expenditure of Sh592,948,083 (89 per cent) contrary to Section 4 of the Kemsa Act, 2013.
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In the neighbouring Baringo County,Governor Benjamin Chebois administration purchased drugs and non-pharmaceuticals valued at Sh86,655,514 from private suppliers despite not having a non-supplies notification from Kemsa. Some Sh81,651,708 was used to procure pharmaceuticals from Kemsa without an established framework.
Other counties that had irregularities in the purchases were Mandera, Lamu, Nyamira and Tana River.
Kemsa gets Sh2bn infusion for restocking Medical supplier also demanding a whopping Sh2.8bn owed by counties. Why Kemsa plans to stock private chemists Kemsa currently supplies medical products to more than 9,000 public health facilities in all the 47 counties, some in far-flung islands and insecurity-prone areas Crisis as Kemsa runs out of essential drugs Counties that do not have money made to wait for drugs and other essential medical items for many months. Counties disown Kemsa PPE list Kits and equipment given by donors to fight the coronavirus pandemic may not have reached counties or the devolved units diverted them Kemsa stuck with stock no one needs Internal documents show that some officers questioned the wisdom of a procurement spree using money not in the 2020/21 budget.Its free!
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