Who are the suppliers? Ruto wades in as multi-billion medical equipment leasing controversy boils over

Two days after Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga took Governors' concerns about the national equipment service program to the Senate, President William Ruto has come out guns blazing in defence of the program that seeks to supply medical equipment to county governments.

President Ruto on Thursday told Governors that none of them was forced to sign up for the scheme and that they voluntarily entered into agreements with suppliers.

“Anybody who says they were forced by the national government to sign whatever contract, they are conmen and liars,” Ruto said.

“No one is under any obligation to sign with the contractor or contractors, there are 7 of them, I think. No Governor was forced. Mung’aro is here, Abdulswamad is here, you'd be a fool to be forced to sign the wrong thing and then come and talk about it. Kwani wewe ni mjinga kiasi gani?”

The President said there are seven suppliers involved in the medical supplies scheme, remarks that come after some Governors claimed they had been coerced to sign the contracts.

Governor Kahiga had told the Senate's health committee that the county governments had no choice in the matter of onboarding the National Equipment Service Project (NESP).

“Did we have a choice? The program is even open to private facilities. What happens if you don’t join? Did we have a choice?” Kahiga said.

The multi-billion-shilling contracts will see contractors supply medical equipment to county hospitals and earn fees for services provided.

But Senators have questioned what they termed as the national government’s hand in the procurement processes that resulted in the award of the work to 7 contractors. The President however maintains that there were no underhand dealings.

“There will be no fraud. We have costed the equipment, we have costed the medicine, there was a procurement process between the counties and the Ministry of Health. There is no obligation for any county to get equipment from any suppliers,” said Ruto.

The President's statement comes as the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors Chair sought to walk back sentiments from the Nyeri Governor.

In a statement, the two indicate that the counties will get the medical equipment under the Fee-For-Service (FFS) model that allows vendors to supply, maintain, and upgrade state-of-the-art equipment at no cost to county health facilities.

The contractors will be paid for services under gazetted Social Health Authority (SHA) tariffs.

The MoH and the CoG chair further clarified that onboarding the NESP is not mandatory but insisted that the model now employed will foster transparency, efficiency, and sustainability.

“I want to assure the country that the challenges of fraud and corruption that bedevilled the NHIF will never be part of our universal healthcare plan as long as I am in charge,” Ruto insisted.

Hours after the statement was issued, the Chair of the Council of Governors appeared to break ranks with the ministry, insisting that health remained devolved and counties did not need the national government’s interference.

The National Equipment Services Program is the successor to the controversial Medical Equipment Services (MES) that was implemented in the first devolved county governments.

The program ran into headwinds with counties claiming that the equipment delivered was dysfunctional and not serviced properly, costing the country billions of shillings with little returns on the investment.