NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 — The Council of Governors (CoG) has endorsed the extension of controversial Managed Equipment Services for an additional period of three years ahead of the anticipated completion of the initial 7-year contract period.
The Council announced its decision to extend the contracts for all the 47 counties on Friday citing consensus with the national Ministry of Health (MoH) on the need to review budgetary allocations.
“In considering the three options, the council acknowledges the impact of the equipment on health service delivery to the people and resolved to extend the contract for additional three years,” CoG Health Committee Chairperson Anyang’ Nyong’o said.
“It has been recommended the CoG jointly with MoH to draft the addendum to the contracts and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and county governments,” Nyong’o said.
Governors also agreed on the composition of a multidisciplinary committee jointly with the Ministry of Health to determine modalities of the extension on a contract-by-contract basis.
They also demanded that the contractors awarded the supply of medical equipment under the lease agreement rolled out in 2015 address concerns reported during the 7-year period set to lapse in December.
The Sh63 billion project shrouded in secrecy was marred with claims of graft with some counties claiming some of the equipment had broken down even before they were commissioned due to lack of appropriate housing units in county-run hospitals.
County governments embarked on a process to seek an expert opinion of the continued engagement of county-run hospitals in the national government initiated project on December 20 saying the contracts were expected to come to and end between December 2022 and May 2023.
A MES review committee proposed a three-year extension in a report considered by the Council of Governors during a full council meeting at on December 20, 2021.
CoG Chairperson Martin Wambora said a survey which was conducted between May and June 2021 with the aim of ascertaining the status of the MES Equipment in the Counties endorsed the extension.
Apart for extension, the team considered tow other alternatives namely; decommissioning and disposal of equipment by the contractor or/and transfer of equipment to the Ministry of Health.
“In view of the options provided, the Council of Governors has resolved that Counties will seek expert opinion on the issue who will render professional advice which will inform the Counties on the next course of action,” Wambora said.
Under the MES arrangement, equipment manufacturers were outsourced to supply, install, train users, and provide maintenance, repair and replacement services for the specialized medical equipment for the duration of the MES contract.
In February 2015, the Ministry of Health awarded leasing agreements for the provision of specialized medical equipment to counties worth Sh63 billion.
According to the Ministry of Health, the type of equipment prioritized under the MES project was informed by a Needs Assessment conducted in March 2014.
In 2020, the Senate committee probing the MES project found that Lands Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri who served as the Health Principal Secretary between 2015 and 2017 withheld the contracts and other supporting documents from former Health Secretary Cleopa Mailu on grounds that they were “secret”.
Mailu currently serves as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) as the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UNOG.
The Senate report indicated that the MES project flooded hospitals with highly-priced equipment which failed to improve the health standards in counties as promised.
Top Health Ministry officials were also denied access to the documents in attempts to block their input to Health and Budget committees over the project, according to the Senate Committee report.
