Slaying the dragon of widespread corruption has proved a toll order in government procurement departments with fraudulent practices taking the lead majorly in pharmaceuticals products.
Emergency measures precipitated by COVID-19 have seen efforts both the national and county governments proved inadequate in eradicating corruption within the health facilities.
Indeed, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the country has institutions of government breach procurement laws and regulations.
For instance, in August 2020, massive irregularities at the state-run Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) were revealed, including flouting procurement regulations and misusing public funds earmarked for the country’s COVID-19 response.
Investigations revealed that KEMSA flouted several laws in the awarding of tenders worth about Sh72 billion.
Additionally, some rogue health officers have been arrested for asking for money before administering Covid-19 vaccine.
Some of the beneficiaries have had to pay for the jab which the government is giving free of charge to frontline workers.
Some had to pay anything up to Sh100,000 to secretly receive early inoculations of the vaccines.
Recently, two accredited COVID-19 testing labs have been suspended for issuing fake Covid-19 PCR test results to travelers while twelve have been arrested.
An investigation by the Ministry of Health revealed that a majority of doctored Covid-19 results came from the two laboratories which are; Checkup Medical and Meditest.
The two, including other private companies that have been handling PCR tests at airports have now been banned from doing so.
The twelve people were arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after producing fake Covid-19 test results.
The twelve passengers, who were traveling to Saudi Arabia, were handed over to detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to preliminary investigations, some Ministry of Health officials and private labs colluded with travelers to issue fake Covid-19 results to aid travel.
In a move to restore the country’s image internationally, the Ministry of Health now says COVID-19 testing and issuance of certificates to those wishing to travel will be done by government facilities.
Additionally, seven hospitals are on the spot for failing to properly use Sh4.6 billion meant to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The seven referral hospitals that received the money are Kenyatta University Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRH), which received Sh1.28 billion, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Sh1.26 billion, and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Sh549.5 million.
The others are Coast General Hospital (CGH) Sh500 million, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) Sh400 million, Kitui Referral Hospital Sh300 million and Mandera Referral Hospital Sh300 million.
At KUTRH, a review of the related payment vouchers revealed that the institution had reallocated Sh12.39 million to commitments made before Covid-19 was declared in Kenya on March 13, 2020.
“The authority to reallocate from the Covid-19 funds for these payments was not available to the special audit,” the audit says.
The audit gives details of the payments and expenditure whose procurement had commenced and, in some cases, goods delivered before Covid-19 was found in the country.
But still, payments were made using the conditional Covid grants.
Since the start of the pandemic, the country has received huge sums in loans and grants to address the health and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.
However, lack of transparency and accountability in how the government raised and spent the funds remains a persistent challenge.