Kenya Bought Unvalidated COVID-19 Testing Kits Worth Sh365M

The saga that is Kemsa scandal continues to have it swirl around. While the authority struggle to answer on flawed procurement and exaggerated prices for the COVID-19 supplies, the depth of the mess keeps getting deeper.

According to the new development, Kits procured by the health ministry were not validated by the Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board (KMLTTB), which is licensed to verify all kits bought using World Bank funds.

This has further casted doubt on the accuracy of the results from the kits with possibilities of false negatives and positives which puts the public in grave danger.

In a letter addressed to the Kemsa CEO Jonah Manjari, Health PS Susan Mochache directed the acquisition of 3,750 kits at Sh97,584 each.

Mochache and Mutahi have been accused by the Kemsa management of micromanaging the procurement process and asserting pressure for tender awards to specific firms.

Ministry skipped a crucial step of validating the kits which needed field trials to determine the accuracy of the kits.

It is, however, curious that the PS ordered the procurement of rapid testing kits that cannot be used in other diagnostic platforms besides the Abbott machines, which are unavailable in most of the Covid-19 labs.