This archive report was first published on 25 August 2020.
On August 25, 2020, a businessman filed a case under certificate of urgency at the court, seeking to temporarily bar the board of directors of Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) from transacting any business on behalf of the state agency.
The petitioner, Kennedy Omondi Otieno, argued that the continued stay of the board might interfere with investigations into the loss of billions of COVID-19 funds.
He also sought the suspension of the board, from office, pending completion of investigations into the alleged mismanagement of donor funds.
According to the petitioner, the continued operation of the board members will most likely lead to interference with evidence on the ongoing investigations and prompt the donors to actualize their threats of cutting of funds, to the detriment of Kenyans.
He claimed that the board is planning to hold an urgent meeting on August 25, 2020, to reorganize its human resource department and victimize those who are deemed whistle blowers to the KEMSA corrupt deals.
The petitioner argued that the Coronavirus pandemic has presented the Country with unprecedented challenges, and the state has received approximately Kshs 223 Billion from donors to enable the country meet various mitigating and precautionary measures.
However, reports have emerged showing how KEMSA has embarked on an unlawful spending spree of the donor funds by buying PPEs at inflated prices, utilizing the donor funds to pay for items procured without the approval of the Board, and diverting large consignments of masks and ventilators donated by the international community to private warehouses.
Due to the said mismanagement of the Universal Healthcare Funds, the Global Fund and the USAID have now threatened to withdraw funds that were meant to support HIV/AID, Tuberculosis and Malaria programs for the next 3 years, thereby putting lives of millions of Kenyans at risk.
At the moment, the pandemic has infected 32,364 Kenyans with 548 deaths mostly occasioned by the scarcity of PPEs and ventilators.
