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Sonko, Kemsa Sh300m debt row turns ugly


Nairobi County government is considering turning to other drug suppliers to stock its health centres, accusing Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) of being unreliable.

Governor Mike Sonko said that his administration will seek for alternative sources which he did not mention following constant rowing with Kemsa over Sh300 million pending bills owed to the agency.

He directed his new Health minister Mohamed Dagane to buy medicine from other suppliers through emergency procurement to ensure all county hospitals are fully stocked.

“My administration will not allow Nairobi residents to continue suffering as a result of drug shortage in our health facilities. We will not allow Kemsa to sabotage service delivery and from next week. I want this matter settled so that service delivery is not interrupted in our county hospitals,” said Mr Sonko on Friday.

He was speaking at Pumwani Maternity Hospital where he launched a human milk bank aimed at ending cases of infant deaths at the facility.

The City Hall boss said the county has been paying at least Sh20 million monthly to Kemsa in accordance with their debt payment deal.

“We have reports that drugs worth over Sh300m that Kemsa allegedly supplied to county hospitals during the previous regime were diverted to private hospitals. I now ask the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti to probe the debt,” he said.