Terry Ramadhani new broom at the helm of Kemsa
Corporate management expert Ms Terry Ramadhani has officially assumed office as the new Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Chief Executive Officer to help fight graft and restore public trust in the crisis-saddled agency.
The move follows her recent appointment by the Kemsa Board and she takes over from the immediate former Acting CEO, Mr John Kabuchi.
Speaking moments after assuming office at Kemsa Commercial Street offices, Ms Ramadhani said she would maintain a consultative management approach and foster partnerships with all stakeholders in the State drugs distribution enterprise.
She paid tribute to Kemsa staff, and operating stakeholders for their commitment to ensuring the agency transforms into an effective Health Products and Technologies supply chain business.
Read also: Kemsa names ex-board member Terry Kiunge as CEO
“I have taken over as the CEO of Kemsa, and I am conscious of the immense duty and responsibility ahead. I pay tribute to the team running the show for their passion and dedication to duty. They have set a solid foundation for KEMSA transformation. I intend to accelerate the pace of reforms through a consultative, results-focused management approach with all our stakeholders from staff, suppliers, donor partners, and clients,” Ms Ramadhani said.
Mr Kabuchi noted that KEMSA had made positive reform strides to ensure its effectiveness adding that Kemsa has managed to cut the order turnaround time (TAT) from 46 days in February 2021 to 14 days at the end of April 2022 with plans for further improvement.
While announcing Ms Ramadhani’s appointment last week, KEMSA Chairperson Ms Mary Mwadime said: “In Ms Ramadhani, the KEMSA Board is confident that the organizational transformation agenda will be sustained and professionally executed. The Board is united in its resolve to facilitate the proper positioning of KEMSA as an effective Health Products and Technologies supply chain provider in the local public health space.”
In recent months, Kemsa has been fighting to clean its image and earn public trust following massive fraud accusations surrounding the procurement of Covid-19 treatment and management supplies at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Upon investigations, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission established there were irregular expenditure of Kes7.8 billion on tenders reportedly dished out to politically connected individuals and enterprises by top Kemsa officials.
In March this year, the UN-backed Global Fund unearthed shocking details where among others, a total of 908,000 mosquito nets, 1.1 million condoms, and TB drugs valued at Kes10 million have vanished from its warehouse without a trace.
