Theft of Corona Funds in Kenya: A letter from the Ministry of Health has revealed how the looting of funds under the guise of coronavirus medical procurement started.
This letter was exposed by Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) board chair and former politician Kembi Gitura. According to Gitura, KEMSA exclusively procured Covid-19 related supplies from select firms at pre-set prices. This was done based on instructions from the Ministry of Health through a letter. The letter is said to have been authored by Health PS Susan Mochache in April 15, 2020 this year. It was addressed to suspended Kemsa CEO Jonah Manjari.
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“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, Ms. Mochache had said that the World Bank had identified and approved various items to be procured by the State agency. “This is to approve the procurement of goods worth Sh. 758, 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 by Ms. Mochache reads.
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The few selected companies that have supplied PPEs to KEMSA include Megascope Healthcare, Tikasan Holdings Co Ltd, KEMA Ltd, Medilab and Applied Products. Some of these companies have been linked to prominent political figures including members of the Kenyatta family.
A State agency is also suspected to have channeled close to Sh. 2 billion to nine companies for the government’s response to the pandemic. “One company is supplying Personal Protective Equipment and KN95 masks to a government agency worth Sh. 970 million. This translates to the company grossing more than Sh. 300 million every month in sales. The supply of PPEs and masks has proved to be the most lucrative for companies, with many selling a single PPE kit for Sh. 9,000 and one KN95 mask for Sh. 700. Between these months, the smallest supplier to government earned Sh. 25 million for the supply of 50,000 half litre bottles of hand sanitiser,” a local report said.
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Accenture Kenya Limited supplied some 12,000 PPE kits for Sh. 108 million. Abyssinia Group of Industries was contracted to supply 30,000 N95 masks with a respirator for Sh. 27 million. Bell Industries supplied 15,000 PPE kits as well as 5,000 infrared thermometers for a combined Sh. 185 million. The thermometers cost Sh. 10,000 each. Medilife Biologicals Ltd has supplied government agencies with KN95 masks and three ply surgical disposable masks for Sh. 230 million. Another company, Nanopay Limited, got some action on the masks game, supplying 50,000 KN95 masks for a tidy Sh. 35.5 million. By June 4, Light Up Limited had supplied 50,000 half-litre bottles of hand sanitiser for Sh. 25 million.
The first case of the viral scourge was confirmed by the National Influenza Centre laboratory at the National Public Health Laboratories of the Ministry of Health on March 12. It involved a patient who had traveled to Kenya from the US through the United Kingdom on March 5. Theft of Corona Funds in Kenya.
