Nairobi — It has now emerged that inactions by Acting Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Andrew Mulwa led to the loss of Sh3.7 billion tender for the procurement of malaria nets.
Details unveiled before the Senate Health Committee chaired by Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago showed that despite his receipt of a memo from Head of Malaria Division Ahmeddin Omar communicating omitted nets specification on the tender, he failed to act.
Omar stated that on 20th February 2023, he wrote an advisory memo to his boss Mulwa pointing out the omission expecting the matter to be escalated forward to the relevant officials following a phone conversation.
The Acting Medical Service and Promotive Health CEO did not respond to the advisory memo saying he received no such memo.
"I can't take ownership of documents that have not been signed by me.I don't know where its from. This memo didn't pass through my office and that of Dr Nazila, we have checked the register," Mulwa said.
The Former PS found herself embroiled in the mosquito net scandal over a letter she wrote on February 21, 2023, to KEMSA seeking rectification on what she cited as omissions on the tender's specification.
Mburu told senators that she was advised by Omar that KEMSA in advertising the tender missed out on the specification of the net insecticide.
The Head of Malaria Division further threw spanner to the works saying he had never directly communicated to Mburu which raised questions on how the advisory memo by passed Mulwa but managed to forwarded to Mburu's office.
"I never communicated to my PS directly but if my director didn't see the letter am surprised how the PS got a copy of it," Omar said.
Omar mentioned that despite making the communication he received no response from his boss.
"According to our channel of communication, I cannot directly communicate to the PS my memo are forwarded to Dr Mulwa. It's his prerogative to act on it or refer the memo back to me," he added.
Despite the escalation of the matter, Omar said that he never received any communication to that effect.
He noted that failure to raise issues on the omission would have attracted law suit for the tender
"Anyone could have gone to court saying the tender specification doesn't contain the specification and we didn't want litigation," he said.
Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri questioned the breakdown of communication between the two offices saying the tendency led to the tender being botched by the Global Fund.
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"Dr Omar said that he had never received any feedback and the Former PS also acknowledged that he never received feedback. There's more to this issue, something is raised and there's constant silence maybe there's behind this that we are not being told," said Okenyuri.
However, the Acting KEMSA CEO stated that the advisory memo that led to the extension of tender advertisement irking the Global Fund was never received by his office.
Mulwa says he learned about the extension of time of the Sh 3.7 billion tender mosquito nets tender through the local diallies.
"I can't give feedback on a communication that has not passed through my office. I would have not given feedback to Dr Omar on a communication I had not seen," Mulwa said.
Mulwa was also put on the spot for failing to communicate and give responses on communication between him and the Global Fund to his boss Former PS Josephine Mburu on the procurement process.
