Governors discount MoH donations tally
Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of multi-million-shilling coronavirus equipment allegedly sent to the counties but which governors have denied receiving.
The matter came to the limelight after county bosses rejected a list prepared by Health PS Susan Mochache indicating what the regional governments had received, with the Council of Governors (CoG) chair Wycliffe Oparanya saying distribution of the material was not done transparently.
While Mocache said counties have been getting support from the ministry since March when the first Covid-19 case was reported in Kenya, counties have painted a different picture by not only indicating they received supplies in the first three months only, but also differed on the number of items delivered.
Mochache, in a letter dated August 26, to the CoG, gives a list of medical supplies donated by public and private institutions and their distribution to counties, but CoG has in return drawn a different list which does not tally with the ministry’s, suggesting possible loss of some of the material.
“The donations were distributed based on various criteria that include disease burden, distance, geographical position, specific distributions and also addressing equity.
Please ensure counties have three items free of charge as they are donations from well-wishers.
We wish to get a report from you on the status of delivery,” Mochache says in the letter addressed to COG chief executive Jacqueline Mogeni.
The material, according to the PS’s letter, was being stored in a warehouse at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) which is currently on the spot over allegations of embezzling Covid-19 related funds through inflated tender prices.
But while the PS suggests that counties have continuously received support since May, governors on Saturday said the devolved units only benefited in the first three months of the pandemic and that some of the items listed by the ministry were never delivered, a position that could escalate the controversy over management of Covid-19 resources.
Received support
Yesterday, Mogeni told People Daily that some of the items listed by the PS were never delivered to the counties as intended, adding that the regional governments only received donations in March, April and May, contrary to the ministry letter.
“The number of the items listed does not match what the counties have received. Counties only received the items between March and May.
They have not received any free supply from any donations in the last three months as suggested,” Mogeni said.
For example, while Mochache indicates that counties got 35, 000 pieces of medical disposable protective clothing which was donated on July 2, by China Meheko Limited, governors say they received only 350 pieces, with 32 counties getting 10 pieces each while Kwale got 40.
For three-ply surgical masks, the PS has listed 51,000 pieces, where 50,000 were donated by the Korean government on July 18, but according to the regional governments, they received only 1,294 masks, raising queries on 49, 706 pieces.
The ministry claims that about 257,500 pieces of goggles were donated and distributed to the county governments but according to CoG, only 740 pieces found their way to the counties where lucky ones got 20 each.
A total of slightly over 13 million pieces of on N95 masks were donated but counties say only 24, 283 were delivered.
Yesterday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the ministry is in the process of reconciling the list from the ministry and the one from the governors to determine whether any resources were lost, as ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“We are in the process of reconciling the two lists from the governors and the ministry’ side, but I can assure you that we will leave no stone unturned to give the correct state of affairs,” he said.
“There are certain items that Kemsa management confirmed to us that are still lying in the store and we want to determine what they are, what was distributed and what was not distributed before compiling a final list as ordered by the President.”
The fresh controversy comes days after the National Assembly’s Health Committee was told that some of the Covid-19 donations from the Jack Ma Foundation did not arrive in the country despite reports they were delivered.
Oparanya, who is the Kakamega Governor, yesterday told People Daily that counties were not ready to take blame for items which had not been delivered to them, saying the possible loss happened at a time county health workers were threatening to down tools due to lack of protective equipment.
Reconciling lists
“Everyone should carry their own cross. As counties, we are not ready to shoulder a burden when the items were never delivered to us.
Counties will only shoulder any queries that may arise from failure to account for items that were delivered.
The process of distribution was not transparent. We were forced to make our independent arrangements to acquire the equipment,” Oparanya said.
Other items that were donated with a target to the counties include 400, 000 pieces of surgical masks, 35,000 protective face marks, 170,000 medical shoes, 700 overall medical gowns, 85, 000 normal face masks, 500 surgical protective suits, 12 ICU ventilators, 21 quarantine tents with a capacity of 10 beds each and 15,000 disposable gloves, among others.
From the donations, Baringo, Bomet and Bungoma counties received four surgical masks, 10 medical disposable protective clothes, 10 goggles, 20 examination gloves, 15 PPEs and 230 surgical gloves with the exception of Bungoma which got 241.
