Members of Parliament on their fact finding tour/CFM
MOMBASA, Kenya, Nov 11 — The National Assembly committee on Health on Friday gave a clean bill of health the use of Sh1 billion billion to purchase 100 portable clinics by the Ministry of Health despite sharp division among committee members.
Chairperson Rachel Nyamai (MP Kitui South), said the committee is satisfied with the quality of the containers procured by the Ministry from China
Speaking in Mombasa after inspecting the containers, Nyamai says the role of the committee was to ascertain that indeed the containers equipped with medical equipments were indeed delivered to the country by the contractor.
“We have ascertained that we have 99 containers at this yard. One was taken to Nairobi for demonstration purposes. Our experts in this committee have also ascertained that most of the medical equipments, as per the contract, are available,” said Nyamai.
The 100 forty-foot containers at the centre of the Sh5.2 billion scandal at the Ministry of Health are being stored at the National Youth Service yard in Miritini Mombasa since their importation.
A batch of the containers was received on December last year while the remaining batch was brought into the country on June, according to the Ministry of Health.
A section of MPs in the committee disagreed on the pricing of the containers and the procurement process, arguing that the process was flawed.
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui questioned the procurement process after it emerged that the supplier had been paid Sh800 million even before delivering the portable clinics.
Mbui claimed that prices are exaggerated and there is no value for money in the purchased containers.
Dr Naomi Shaban (Taveta MP) said the Ministry of Health should fast track the process of delivering the clinics on site so that Kenyans can start benefitting from them
On Thursday CS health Cleopa Mailu and PS Nicholas Muraguri apperared before the health committee for questioning over the delayed distribution of the clinics
The government has been trying to clarify that the money was not lost in the alleged Sh5 bilion scandal.
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