KEMSA scandal: Ex-PS Josephine Mburu says she learned of her sacking from the media

Former Health Principal Secretary in the State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards, Josephine Mburu says she learned of her sacking from the media.

Mburu was sacked on May 25 in the wake of a bungled procurement process handled by the Ministry of Heath that left the country on the verge of losing a Ksh.3.7 billion worth of anti-Malaria nets from the Global Fund.

Appearing before the Senate’s Health Committee investigating the irregular procurement at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) on Tuesday, Mburu said the firing caught her unaware as she only learned of it from the media with the rest of Kenyans.

“At first, I was shocked… when I was told I was sacked it caught me unaware. Everything that happened came as a shocker, everything that was said on the media came as a shocker,” she told senators.

Mburu denied involvement in the procurement process, saying the process began as she got into office.

“I believe the staff advised me to the best of my ability, but I was not involved when the advert was put out, the head of malaria came in and told me there was an omission, the letter did not stop the process, it didn't interfere with any process, and because KEMSA is not under Josephine they did not come back to me,” she said.

The ongoing probe into allegations of corruption and mismanagement of medical supplies at KEMSA also saw the CEO suspended alongside three staffers.

Global Fund had floated the multi-billion tender for the supply of 10.2 million long-lasting polyethene and polyester nets to be distributed from November this year to July next year as part of the fight against Malaria mass campaign.

Locally, the tender was floated in January this year but ran into headwinds soon after with the health ministry and the Global Fund clashing on the specifications of the nets to be delivered, resulting in an amendment of the tender and the extension of the same.

According to the evaluating committee, a total of 17 bids were received, with five making the cut.

But a review of the tenders by the Global Fund showed that the five bids were not qualified.

Only two companies, Tianjin Yorkool and Premium Movers, who were deemed unfit by the tenders evaluation committee should have made the cut, while Vka Polymers pvt, Shobikaa Impex, and Partec East Africa, which were ranked as qualified should have been disqualified for incomplete pagination.

The Global Fund in its final assessment of the tenders submitted that the two bids assessed as responsive (Shobikaa for polyethene nets and Partec East for polyester nets) failed to meet the mandatory documentation requirement and should not have proceeded to the technical, and financial and post qualification phase.

The tender did not yield responsive bids. This forced the Global Fund to cancel the tender and offer it directly to its own procurement wing Wambo.org in a move that is expected to see Kenya lose hundreds of millions of shillings in funding.

If the tender had been handled by Kenya, KEMSA would have received 2% or Ksh.74 million as part of the procurement fee, and 8% or Ksh.295 million as warehousing and distribution charges.