Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The value of Covid-19 protection kits bought at inflated prices has since dropped to Sh1.976 billion due to delayed sale.
Health Cabinet secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the prices of the items currently being held at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) stores have from Sh2.3 billion in July 2020.
The Kemsa bought the Covid-19 emergency equipment at Sh6.3 billion in a procurement the Ethics and Anti-Corruption flagged as irregular and recommended charges against some officials.
A special audit by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu had shown that Kemsa may realise a loss of Sh2.33 billion if the products, which are stuck at its warehouses, are sold at the current market price.
Kenya procured personal protective equipment at the height of Covid-19 at a cost of Sh9,000 prices but the prices have since dropped by more than half.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) had catalogued instances of alleged inflation of prices for products procured by Kemsa.
Paracetamol tablets sold at Sh40 per pack were bought for Sh66.50 during the pandemic, while sanitiser priced at Sh313 was purchased at Sh495.
“There was no evidence of indicative price indices obtained through market survey,” the PPRA said in submissions to Public Investments Committee.
It also alleged that most “tenders were retrospectively negotiated and evaluated after the deliveries”.
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