This archive report was first published on 20 June 2020.
COVID-19 Testing Kits Shortage Hits Kenya, 5,000 Samples Unchecked ¶
Kenya is facing a severe shortage of COVID-19 testing kits, leaving over 5,000 samples waiting to be tested. The shortage has been attributed to the theft of donations sent by the Chinese government and billionaire Jack Ma.
According to Health Director-General Patrick Amoth, the ministry had received a batch of testing kits that will last four weeks, but the kits had gone missing. Amoth acknowledged the danger of having a backlog of samples, saying that if a sample tests positive and the person was roaming for weeks without knowing their results, the risk of transmission is high.
Ma's care package, which included 100,000 face masks and 20,000 testing kits, arrived at JKIA on March 24, 2020. However, the testing kits went missing in April 2020, when the donations from Alibaba founder Jack Ma and the Chinese government arrived in the country.
Authorities confirmed on Tuesday, June 16, that a probe was underway and that it had been widened to include all donations and money given to help in the fight against COVID-19. The Kenyan government had also received donations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European countries.
CS Mutahi Kagwe recently acknowledged publicly that greedy people had laid their hands on the consignment. Prior reports uncovered the disappearance of $2m (KSh 212.6 million) worth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) donated by the Chinese government.
