Kenya: KEMSA Board of Directors and Procurement Chief Throw Manjari Under Bus

09/04/2020 Ethiopia, Health



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Nairobi – Dr. Jonah Manjari, who was suspended as executive director of the Kenya Medical Supply Authority (KEMSA), is an isolated man, with accumulated problems and blamed for the problem of the acquisition of COVID-19 in the country.

Just a day after Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe and his senior secretary, Susan Mochache, denied his claims that he had been ordered to bend the procurement law, KEMSA’s chairman of the board, Kembi Gitura, and the head of acquisitions, Charles Juma, seemed to sink it further.

Board chair Kembi Gitura told the National Assembly Health Committee that Manjari ignored the board’s advice on budget spending and continued to write directly to the National Treasury seeking additional funding.

The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Board has cleared itself of any bribery irregularities surrounding the procurement of COVID-19 supplies and instead charged suspended CEO Jonah Manjari, to avoid his participation in the whole exercise.

“The board did not authorize the passage of the budget from Sh4.6 billion to Sh7.1 billion on our part, that is clear,” Gitura told the deputies.

Gitura was categorical that only Manjari can provide much-needed answers in the investigation that has shocked the nation, prompting President Uhuru Kenyatta to order the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to finalize its report in three weeks.

“The role of the KEMSA board is to approve the annual budgets and procurement plans and review the state of utilization against the budget and procurement plan,” he said.

Appearing before the committee of parliamentarians, Manjari, who had previously claimed that he was under pressure from CS Kagwe and Mochache to ensure that tenders were awarded to particular companies, cut a picture of an isolated man abandoned by his team with presentations from the Director of Acquisitions. Charles Juma makes his situation worse.

Juma revealed that on numerous occasions he had issued warnings to Manjari not to exceed the budget of 4.6 billion shillings the agency was working with at the time.

He noted that despite his warnings, Manjari went on to sign letters of commitment with various suppliers, illegally, without involving their entry.

“My action in making the warnings was to inform top management of the risk of going over budget and therefore breaking the law,” he said.

Juma revealed that a letter of commitment issued to Kilig Limited granting them an offer of Sh4 billion was not sanctioned by his office, but instead blamed Manjari, whom he accused of ignoring it.

“I recommended that the purchase be revoked because the required amounts would have exceeded what the agency usually provides during a fiscal year and during this period we already had enough stock in our stores,” he said.

The EACC is investigating how dozens of tenders were awarded to companies, some worth billions, others linked to influential politicians and businessmen or brokers.

In his defense, Manjari claimed that the letters were issued in “good faith” arguing that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country had presented a unique challenge for the agency.

“We made this acquisition during very difficult times and we are reminded that in doing so there was panic in the country and difficult decisions had to be made. It is from this point of view that as we make small decisions in life we ​​are expected to use our heads, but as we make very difficult and important decisions, we use our hearts, “Manjari said.

Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny criticized Manjari for violating his mandate, calling his action suspicious.

“You never wrote to the board president and that means you went and did your own stuff and cooked up your own numbers, concluded on your own awards, and bypassed the board and parent ministry,” he said.