Debts owed to Kemsa prove costly for counties
Kenya Medical Supplies Agency CEO Jonah Manjari addresses a media briefing at Sarova Panafric Hotel on April 15, 2019. The Kemsa has blacklisted counties that have not cleared their debts. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Murang’a and Nairobi have not procured drugs from Kemsa for two years, while Narok has not bought for a year.
- Most health centres and dispensaries in Nairobi do not have new drugs in stock. What they have was procured two years ago.
Counties are paying three times more to local pharmacies for drugs than they would have if they procured them from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), the Nation has learnt.
Counties owe huge debts to Kemsa, which has blacklisted them, prompting the regions to turn to local pharmacies for medicines and non-pharmaceuticals products.
But some of the suppliers have not been cleared by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, putting at risk the lives of Kenyans.
Some of the blacklisted counties are Narok, Murang’a and Nairobi. Four others have also stopped purchasing drugs from Kemsa.
Data from the agency reveals that Nairobi, with a Sh284 million debt, Murang’a (Sh21 million) and Narok (Sh104.5 million) have been denied fresh supplies over the past three months.
RESELLING
Kemsa says Kwale, Kericho, Kilifi and Makueni have not ordered fresh drugs from them in the last three months. The four counties have a combined debt of Sh113 million.
Murang’a and Nairobi have not procured drugs from Kemsa for two years, while Narok has not bought for a year.
Murang’a and Narok have been buying from local suppliers, with their advertised tenders being won by pharmacies.
Some of the tender winners travel to Nairobi to purchase the drugs from wholesalers and resell to the counties.
Kemsa last year cut its prices to eight per cent of the international prices, down from 35 per cent after a WHO and Ministry of Health study revealed that some drugs were selling for double the international prices, or even higher.
EXPENSE
For Nairobi, data gathered by the Nation revealed that hospitals including Mama Lucy, Pumwani and Mbagathi procure directly from Kemsa using their conditional grants. But Dagoretti Sub-County Hospital procures directly from Meds Centre.
Most health centres and dispensaries in Nairobi do not have new drugs in stock. What they have was procured two years ago.
The blacklisting by Kemsa is a blow to residents of the seven counties who relied on low-cost State hospitals for medicine.
Kemsa chief executive Jonah Manjari says the indebted counties had breached repayment agreements that demanded partial clearance of bills as a condition to reopen supplies.
