The controversial Ksh63 billion Managed Equipment Service (MES) deal has been termed as a criminal enterprise shrouded in opaque procurement processes and aimed at benefiting a few commercial interests.
The project launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in February 2015 and vehemently opposed by Governors led by their then Chairman Isaac Ruto has been a subject of several investigations, the Senate Adhoc Committee being the latest.
The committee tabled their report before the Senate on Tuesday afternoon after more than one year of investigations.
The committee noted that despite the MES project being a public interest venture that was intended to benefit the public, the persons involved in the conceptualization and implementation of the project from start to finish, it was implemented it in a manner that violated the Constitution and the sacred principles that the project was originally conceived under.
However, the report was shy in naming any persons directly involved in the alleged irregularities only recommending for further investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)
“In some instances, the procurement was done to advance private commercial interests that were supply driven rather at the expense of the Kenyan public and in contravention of Article 201,” the nine member committee chaired by Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo and deputized by Bungoma’s Moses Wetangula said in the underwhelming report.
It was noted that even as Counties continue to use the equipment, a myriad of challenges continues to surround the leasing of the equipment with the most grave one thus far being the annual payments remitted by Counties towards leasing.
“The Committee noted with concern that this is the only project where conditional grants meant for county governments and appropriated under the County Allocation of Revenue Acts, are deducted at the source and transferred to the Ministry of Health instead of being deposited in the respective County Revenue Fund,” the report says.
According to the investigations of the committee, some equipment in the MES project was either overpriced, substandard, delivered late, or undelivered at all.
Top Jubilee officials fingered
Top officials in the Jubilee Government are on the limelight for reportedly bungling the Managed Equipment Service MES project.
In a damning report by the Senate Ad-hoc committee, the names of serving and former officials accused of making Kenyans lose billions of shillings in the deal that the committee terms a criminal enterprise, appear.
“In its inquisitorial capacity, the Ad-Hoc committee finds that various and several public officers and public institutions acted or omitted to act in the inception and execution of the MES project that caused the government to spend inordinate and unjustifiable public resources on the project. Consequently, the Committee recommends a thorough investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and to report their findings and action taken to the Senate within six months.” The report reads.
According to the committee chaired by Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo, the original sin was the irregular conversion of the MES Project to a public procurement process.
This conversion was not in the public interest because under a PPP, the total cost of the project including infrastructural support was to be Ksh.4.3 billion over a period of 10 years.
This translated to roughly Ksh.31 million per county per year.
After the conversion however, counties have been paying Ksh.95 million per county per year in the FY2014/15 to FY 2017/18; Kshs 200 million in the FY 2018/2019 and Ksh 131,914, 893 for the FYs 2019/2020 and 2020/21 for the project.
“The MES Project was varied from a PPP initiative to a public procurement process under unclear circumstances. The Office of Auditor General was unable to find any evidence of a written policy to justify the shift from a PPP model to a MES project under public procurement process.” The committee notes.
The report indicates that the ministry of Health unilaterally changed the mode of implementing the project from a PPP to a public procurement through a letter dated June 22, 2015, Ref. No. MOH/MI/4/10/2/(49) to the
National Treasury.
There was no no evidence or any Policy paper that was presented before the Committee to explain the sudden shift from a PPP to public procurement process.
Former Health CS Dr. Cleopas Mailu, (now Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN), Muraguri and former PS Khadija Kasachaoun have also been mentioned for changing the project and increasing the amount paid by counties from Ksh 65 million to a whopping Ksh 200M per county per year.
Water and Sanitation CS Cecily Kariuki has not been spared either, and has been blamed for irregularly terminating a contract between the Health Ministry and the Information Communication Technology (HCIT) Company.
‘The Committee takes cognizance of the multiple egregious violations of the above mentioned acts of law by the officials in the Ministry of Health and in particular, CS Sicily Kariuki and Mr Moranga Morekwa,”reads part of the report.
The company was supposed to roll out an ICT system to interlink all hospitals that benefited from the MES major component of the project.
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