Global Fund calls for fresh probe at KEMSA as drugs, supplies disappear
The Global Fund now wants a fresh investigation launched at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), after it emerged that over 1.1 million condoms, 908,000 mosquito nets, and tuberculosis (TB) drugs worth Kes10 million has disappeared from the facility.
The Global Fund is Switzerland-based organization that finances governments to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
The organization is suspecting that the supplies have been stolen and resold to private chemists.
According to the organization’s audit, Kemsa also overstated the value of medicines by Kes640 million.
“Kemsa has poor internal controls on warehousing and inventory management, resulting in 16 percent differences in batch numbers verified, and discrepancies of 908,000 long-lasting insecticidal nets between actual and expected stock balances,” the Global Fund’s report was on Wednesday quoted by Business Daily.
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At the same time, some suspected fake suppliers are also purportedly demanding Kes1.66 billion from the embattled drug supplier.
“We identified 165 long outstanding/undelivered local purchase orders (LPOs) valued at $14.5 million. The high number of LPOs without attached delivery notes poses the risk of fake suppliers or diverted procurements,” added the report.
The Global Fund has further established that some of the drugs it bought had expired in KEMSA’s warehouses even as public hospitals across the counties keep complaining of shortages.
Global Fund, whose main donors are the US, France, Germany, and Japan, has granted Kenya over $1.4 (Kes159.6) billion since 2003.
In 2020 KEMSA was caught in another corruption scandal, with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) reporting “criminal” behavior in the purchase of Covid-19 kits.
Meanwhile, taxpayers are staring at a Kes1.5 billion loss in Covid-19 related stock being held at the KEMSA stores due to expiries and short shelf life stock.
Addressing the National Assembly’s Health Committee on Tuesday, KEMSA acting CEO John Kabuchi said that KEMSA is still holding a viable stock worth Kes2.6 billion at their stores which they intend to sell by the end of the year.
“From the viable stock, we project to sell stock worth Sh800 million by December 2022,” Mr Kabuchi said.
