Principal Secretary Josephine Mburu fired as Ruto takes action at KEMSA

President, William Ruto has taken action in response to alleged impropriety within the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) in relation to the management and administration of various medical programmes being undertaken by Kenya with its development partners.

The complaints came to light during regular expenditure verification by the Global Fund with regard to the National Malaria Programme, which targets millions of low-income Kenyan households in the country's malaria endemic regions.

Kemsa premises in Nairobi Pulse Live Kenya

The alleged maladministration on the part of KEMSA is related to the procurement of treated mosquito nets for those vulnerable households, which could have led to significant exposure to the disease and an increase in its severity in the endemic regions.

READ: 1 million condoms go missing from KEMSA warehouse

In a bid to promote accountability and openness in the management of public affairs, President Ruto has terminated the appointment of Dr. Josephine Mburu as the Principal Secretary, State Department for Public Health & Professional Standards.

He has also revoked the appointments of the Chairperson and Members of the Board of Directors of KEMSA and appointed Irungu Nyakera as the new Chairperson of the Board.

Health CS Susan Nakhumicha during a meeting in her office at Afya House Pulse Live Kenya

The Cabinet Secretary for Health has also taken remedial action, which includes reconstituting the Board of KEMSA and suspending the Chief Executive Officer of KEMSA, Terry Ramadhani, alongside other concerned staff serving within the Ministry of Health National Malaria Programme and KEMSA.

Dr. Andrew Mutava Mulwa has been appointed as the Acting Chief Executive Officer of KEMSA, and the new management has been directed to assure propriety of procurement processes within the Authority.

The President said he is committed to ensuring that every Kenyan has access to affordable medical care, and no one is denied their dignity due to corruption.

READ: 2 KEMSA board members sacked after one week in office

In an interview with media houses on Sunday, May 14, the head of state said he would do whatever it takes to clean up the agency.

“Watch this space. I am doing something about it. You will see results. I want to give you my commitment I will clean up KEMSA, whatever it takes, whatever it costs, I will clean it up,” Ruto said.

Global Fund's report

KEMSA has denied the Global Fund's report of irregularities in the procurement of Sh3.7 billion mosquito nets.

In an interview on a local TV station, KEMSA CEO Terry Ramadhani defended the agency's technical evaluation report and the tender evaluation committee, insisting that they followed proper procedures.

The Global Fund's audit accused KEMSA of engaging in irregularities during the procurement process and raised concerns about several procurement gaps, including the lack of pagination and uniformity in identifying the winning and losing bids, as well as a request for a manufacturing certificate from a specific manufacturer.