Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) senior managers and directors have been sent on leave.
The latest development comes in the wake of sweeping reforms to improve efficiency at the drug agency that has been reeling from graft.
In 2020 there was a national outcry following revelations of mismanagement of funds amounting to Ksh7.8B at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An investigation established criminal culpability on the part of public officials in the purchase and supply of COVID-19 emergency commodities that led to the irregular expenditure of public funds.
Following the scandal, the President immediately overhauled the entire KEMSA Board of Directors and late last year all non-care staff were sent home to pave way for a probe even as the National Youth Service temporarily took charge.
The decision to send the over 20 top officials home according to a statement was agreed upon at a board meeting held on Thursday this week.
Board chair Mary Mwadime Saturday however clarified that no one had been fired adding that the move was part of the Human Resource Management strategy to reduce the leave days liability.
“ It is instructive to note that the transformation journey can be derailed by the continued accumulation of leave days. As mentioned above KEMSA Board has not fired a single employee. However, all officers with pending leave days have been alerted and asked to proceed on leave to reduce this liability, which reflects on the organisational balance sheet” she explained.
The board further assured that the institution that had sunk into a financial crisis was on the road to full recovery as envisaged.
“We still have a long way to go to collect the debt owing, but we continue to engage with the County governments to prioritise these payments. We are also releasing pending supplier payments as the resources are availed on our end. The Government has also provided much-needed facilitation to clear KEMSA reforms roadblocks” she said.
She said interim officers would fill in for the substantive officers while they are away on leave.
“The Board has carefully mapped out all affected functions, and competent officers are appointed to handle the roles in an acting capacity under the Acting CEO, Mr John Kabuchi. The appointment of the interim officers is geared at ensuring smooth management functions transition as the substantive officers are away on leave while ensuring business continuity”.
She described the reforms that have led to job losses as turnaround efforts strategically designed to provide a solid foundation for the uptake of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goal among other national healthcare development plans.
KEMSA is currently owed Ksh 6.4Billion and owes its creditors Ksh. 4.5 Billion.
“We still have a long way to go to collect the debt owing, but we continue to engage with the County governments to prioritise these payments. We are also releasing pending supplier payments as the resources are availed on our end”.
In November last year, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union, a Nakuru based doctor and 71 staff members moved to court separately to stop the planned takeover of Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) by members of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and National Youth Service (NYS).
