KEMSA to Exorcise Ghosts of Covid-19 Graft With New Procurement Measures

After a year that saw multi-billion graft and procurement scandals unearthed at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), and the disbanding of its entire board of directors in April 2021 amid pressure on the government by donors and stakeholders, KEMSA is keen on cleaning up its image.

The authority has stepped up plans to guarantee access to quality Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) supply to more than 8,000 facilities in the national public health care system, with a floating of two competitive tenders for pharmaceutical products.

The newly floated tenders are open for local manufacturers and related suppliers, including youth, women and persons with disability-owned enterprises, which can participate under the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) program, among other supplier categories.

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As part of KEMSA’s ongoing public procurement integrity assurance plan, local and international bidders seeking to supply Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) under a two-year framework model converged at the College of Insurance, Nairobi on Monday, July 12 for a pre-bid conference.

KEMSA hosted the pre-bid conference for the two tenders for prospective bidders. The pre-bid conference provided an engagement platform to ensure that the highest standard of ethics and integrity is maintained during the procurement, selection and execution of all contracts.

Speaking at the pre-bid conference, KEMSA acting Chief Executive Officer Mr Edward Njoroge called on local manufacturers and disadvantaged groups under the AGPO program not to shy away from placing tender submissions. He reiterated that the Authority’s public procurement processes would be undertaken with utmost transparency to guarantee value for money and competitiveness.

He explained that the entire bids submission and evaluation process will be undertaken on the National Treasury’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) Digital procurement platform (www.supplier.treasury.go.ke). No manually submitted bids will be accepted to promote fair play and enhance competition.

The over 260 suppliers at the pre-bid conference are set to submit their tender documents to deliver Health Products (Tablets and Capsules), ARV Medicines, Topical, Disinfectants, Antiseptics & Oral Liquids, Surgical and Orthopaedic Dressing and Theatre Medicines & Injectables among others.

While imploring the bidders to consider providing competitive prices based on supply volumes, Njoroge disclosed that an automated supplier performance tool will be used to guarantee efficient service delivery. The tool will track supplier performance on specific metrics, including timely deliveries, quality of products, among others.

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“At KEMSA, we are known for quality services thanks to the commitment of our suppliers who adhere to the strict quality assurance standards. This time around, we are activating a new supplier performance measurement tool to raise the quality standards to world-class benchmarks and ensure value for money to the Kenyan taxpayer,” Njoroge said.

Having undertaken extensive integrity adjustments at KEMSA, prospective suppliers to the Authority, including local manufacturers and disadvantaged groups (AGPO), will also be required to maintain high ethical operating standards.

“At KEMSA, we have re-engineered many of our financial management and procurement processes and adopted information technology systems. This is to ensure that we achieve excellence by providing critical assurance of ethical conduct to all our stakeholders,” Njoroge said. He further assured that “Various covert and overt oversight frameworks have been put in place to guard against the loss of taxpayers and donor funds through procurement processes manipulation.”

KEMSA, Njoroge said, is committed to achieving excellence in procurement, warehousing, and distributing quality affordable Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) to public health facilities.

The Authority, he added, has put in place strategic measures to make a significant contribution to the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

“KEMSA’s role in the success of UHC is the provision of quality, accessible and affordable Health Products and Technologies sourced from local and international suppliers such as those converged at this pre-bid conference,” he said.

All KEMSA business processes are fully automated through the Authority’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) and the KEMSA e-mobile service that facilitate on-time stocks fulfilment to public health facilities countrywide.