House team asks Kemsa to review deal with law firm

Kenya Medical Supplies Authority acting Chief Executive Officer Fredrick Wanyonyi responds to questions from the Public Investments Committee members, at Parliament in Nairobi on April 19, 2018. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In his 2012/13 audit report, Auditor General Edward Ouko pointed out that Kemsa had no title deeds for its depots.
  • Mr Wanyonyi blamed the manual system of issuing title deeds at the Ministry of Lands for the delay in getting the documents.

The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee has asked the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) to review its contract with a law firm it hired to help it get title deeds for prime land it owns across the country.

This was after Kemsa acting chief executive officer Fredrick Wanyonyi informed the committee that in 2013 it hired a law firm, KTK Advocates, to help it get title deeds for its prime plots, but the firm had managed to get only two: one for its depot in Embakasi, Nairobi, and the other for a parcel of land in Nakuru.

LAWYERS

He said that the company had been paid Sh2 million.

The committee accused the agency of laxity, noting that it had been awarded leases 10 years ago.

Wajir West MP Ahmed Kolosh blamed Kemsa for hiring a law firm that has not delivered to the expectation.

“The challenge of acquiring title deeds facing Kemsa is due to the lawyer it hired. We need to know the duration this law firm was given the contract because it cannot be an open-ended contract,” Mr Kolosh said.

TITLE DEEDS

Members expressed concern that the missing title deeds could be in the wrong hands and might be used as collateral to get loans.

“We need all the documents on how this law firm was hired and the amount of money it has been paid.

"It is not possible that since 2013 only two title deeds have been delivered,” committee Chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said.

Mr Wanyonyi blamed the manual system of issuing title deeds at the Ministry of Lands for the delay in getting the documents.

CONSULTATION

In his 2012/13 audit report, Auditor General Edward Ouko pointed out that Kemsa had no title deeds for its depots in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kakamega, Nyeri, Garissa and Meru.

“We want this committee to step up and help us on this issue. This problem of title deeds is not only faced by Kemsa but also other parastatals as well public universities,” Mr Wanyonyi said.

“It is frustrating as today you get a file containing your documents, the next day the file is missing,” Mr Wanyonyi added.

Mr Nassir also blamed the medical agency for failing to engage the Ministry of Health on the difficulties it’s facing in getting the titles.

The CEO promised to appraise the contract with law firm based on the issues raised.