The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has fingered Health PS Susan Mochache and Kemsa CEO Jonah Manjari for the procurement mess at the authority.
Appearing before joint Senate committees on health and Covid-19 situation, PPRA director-general Maurice Juma blamed Mochache for directing the authority to procure Covid-19 items from specific suppliers at specific prices.
The PS, the authority said, directed Kemsa through a letter to Manjari, to abandon all other procurement that had been initiated and use a list of companies contained in the letter to supply the items.
“This is irregular. In the procurement like this one of Kemsa, the Health PS should have just written to Kemsa in terms of quantity, specifications and delivery time frame. That would have sufficed,” Juma said.
The DG told the committee that Kemsa CEO erred and breached procurement law in issuing commitment letters.
Further, Manjari has been accused of unsolicited procurement in handpicking of suppliers outside the registered list of suppliers.
Juma disclosed the frustrations the authority has undergone probing procurement irregularities at Kemsa.
He said that Kemsa has failed to deliver tender documents relating to 25 procurement processes despite several letters seeking them for verification.
PPRA launched investigations into procurement at Kemsa following a directive by the committee.