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Health Cabinet Secretary has exposed how he busted cartels plotting to get their hands on funds meant to purchase PPEs during the coronavirus pandemic.
Details shared by Nation revealed that CS Kagwe suspected foul play and put in motion a plan to expose cartels that have been terrorizing Kenyans in the health sector.
Importers who have ties inside Afya House were plotting to lock local manufacturers out of the party but CS Kagwe outsmarted them.
The Health CS secretly removed labels from personal protective equipment (PPEs) imported from China and privately sent them to official government labs at Kebs for testing.
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CS Mutahi Kagwe
Fighting local manufacturers
The masks failed the liquid penetration test and the CS would later also send from the same batch, the same PPEs but this time with labels and they passed the test.
“When I sensed that there was something going on, I removed labels from China PPEs and took them to Kebs, and they failed miserably and this was only after the label was removed,” CS Kagwe was quoted by the Nation.
The tussle on COVID-19 funds is between Afya House, the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs).
Plot unearthed
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A worker sorting through PPEs
CS Kagwe believes that some people who imported PPEs and are stuck with them in warehouses want to muddy the waters for local manufacturers so that they lock them out.
“Why do we want to bring down our own companies that are doing a great job and employing our people? What is their interest? This is just a plot to kill local manufacturers,” Mr Kagwe said.
He said the local manufacturers have brought down the cost of PPE kits to about Ksh4,300, compared to the Ksh15,000 the government has been buying from importers.