East Africa’s biggest referral hospital that was once the pride of East and Central Africa, the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) is headed to imminent ruin while the leadership led by embattled Chief Executive Officer Evanson Kaimuri fights to keep its position.
Essential services at the hospital have been deteriorating tremendously in the current years even as the authorities watch. This has caused a lot of issues in the management and within the staff. Misuse of power and abuse of office by the CEO have been the highlights. Some of the issues are indicated here. Dr. Kamuri has been the CEO for the period and he seems to be clueless on how the institution should be run and now everything is going south. Raising a lot of questions on his competence and suitability and why something has to be done URGENTLY.
KNH OXYGEN PLANT SCANDAL
In May 2022, Ministry of Health awarded tender no: MOH/ONT/CHERP/003/2021-2022 for supply, delivery, installation testing and commissioning of medical oxygen generating plant at KNH to Biomax Africa Ltd, citing that the bidder was the most suitable as per specifications on the tender.
On 30th Dec 2022, KNH was enjoined into the contract, being the implementing institution. Pre- shipment inspection was conducted, where a team from KNH and MoH travelled to Paris, France led by the Director, Supply Chain management, KNH Mrs. Rose Njoroge. The team included a representative from MoH and the contractor and was mandated to confirm conformance of the equipment to the tender specifications before shipment to KNH.
This was done and a pre-shipment report dated 5th May 2023 was drafted and signed by the pre-shipment team indicating that they indeed saw and ascertained that the equipment conformed to all the tender specifications 100%. The bidder had also, in his bid document filled and signed the specifications conformity form indicating that the proposed plant would meet all the specifications 100% as was required in that tender. These specs involved four (4) compressors and the requisite accessories as was specified in the tender document.
The pre-shipment inspection and factory training report forwarded by the director SCM to the CEO KNH on 2nd May 2023 indicated that the team conducted a factory tour of the Novair facility located in Paris and saw the equipment and confirmed that it met 100% conformance to the provided tender specifications. The plant was expected to be functional by December 2023 and was intended to produce 8000 Litres of oxygen per minute at the specified levels of product purity.
This led to the constitution of a Project Implementation Committee which was appointed by the CEO, KNH Dr. Evanson Kamuri. It is imperative to note that, as at today, the machine cannot give the intended levels of production and the best it can produce is 2800LPM, which is below average.
The contractor, criminally, delivered a substandard plant that cannot perform as per expectations, and has failed in all parameters. The plant is also not able to measure oxygen purity and has been pumping unqualified product to the hospital oxygen system, another criminal commission owing to the fact that the machine flow meters have never been calibrated, which is a professional misconduct.
Tests done privately indicate that the oxygen in KNH is currently below the acceptable minimum purity levels, which is not only dangerous to patients but SUICIDAL.
The KNH management, completely aware of these facts and the correct status of the plant, has decided to bully and manipulate the Project Implementation Committee into accepting the substandard oxygen plant, even after being informed that the plant has failed to qualitatively and quantitatively meet the specifications set in the tender document.
As this is not enough, KNH management decided to utilize public funds and swap with cash from the contractor. Power connection to the plant was supposed to be facilitated by the contractor to the existing infrastructure. The contractor deliberately kept silent about the issue and the CEO approved use of KNH funds to procure a transformer to connect to the plant. It’s very inexplicable how Kamuri offered to procure this for the contractor despite the fact that a site visit was done before the tender closed and the bidder never raised any issue before the tender closed. This has raised queries on why the accounting officer would embezzle funds arrogantly even when it is clear the acts are illegal.
Additionally, the plant’s power consumption has doubled KNH electricity bill. The hospital will now pay an annual bill of around Kshs. 500Million up from 230M thanks to the oxygen plant. The plant consumes more than what KNH cumulatively consumes as an institution. Cheap is expensive.
Based on the above, it has become an uphill task for KNH management to explain how they allowed the contractor to install a plant completely different in all aspects from what was tendered for and what the pre-shipment inspection team was shown in the manufacturing facility in Paris.
This confusion has led to serious desperation on the side of the CEO and Director, Supply chain, a couple which has run down the hospital. It has now been established that this has been done deliberately for the KNH management to cover for G5 Million given by the contractor to KNH management and an engineer from the ministry who was part of the pre-shipment team.
The new KNH Board of management has on several occasions queried about the status of this plant, something that harshly doesn’t sit well with Dr Kamuri.
Out of the unfolding, Dr Kamuri and PS Public Health Harry Kimutai approached the parliamentary health committee for rescue. The PS demanded 20M to assist Dr Kamuri cover the scandal. The money was delivered to the PS on 3rd April. Parliamentary committee was sorted 80M through the Chuka and Nyeri members of parliament.
The deal has now become a pain in Dr Kamuri’s behind, with him failing to explain on whether there was any feasibility conducted prior to initiation of the project and procurement proceedings and why he shouldn’t be accountable.
After spending monies stolen from the hospital to cover a series of scandals in EACC, DCI and office of Felix Koskei, the chicken has come home to roost. Even if parliament forces commission of the plant, months down the plant will collapse and it shall be messy.
Kamuri has used parliamentary health committee, PS Harry Kimutai, and the office of the head of public service to maneuver his way, buy renewal of his loyal crafty directors’ employment contracts to have them stay to continue looting. KNH is now run like a dispensary despite having the best of professionals in East and central Africa.
The PS, after consuming the chunks of money and enjoying the soft life provided by the KNH looters, is now threatening and bulldozing the board of management and threatening to disband them. He has introduced a new way of looting that we will share shortly.
Dr Kamuri/CS Mutahi Kagwe/Parliament
Dr. Evanson Njoroge Kamuri was confirmed KNH CEO on 15/10/201U for a period of three (3) years. The 3 years saw the institution go through some deliberate befuddlement caused by the
top management. KNH started consuming from KEMSA tenders (a scheme hatched by Kamuri, CS Kagwe and the then KEMSA CEO John Manjari), poor management & embezzlement of public funds has been witnessed and mediocracy found its way to the hospital.
Demotivated senior medical consultants left the hospital, staff deaths increased, procurement scandals escalated and employment/Human resource procedures have been completely ignored. The monies looted from the hospital were used to fund Azimio campaigns since Kamuri had been assured a CS Health position in the Azimio government. Unfortunately his team lost.
Kamuri enjoyed protection from the then Chair to the Parliamentary Health Committee Sabina Chege and CS Kagwe who were his drinking buddies and business partners. He now seems to have found a way to extend the same and use the same tactics in the KK government. Some MPs are indirectly in KNH payroll, and of course the long lived protection by Felix Koskei.
KNH Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
KNH advertised Tender No. KNH/T/G7/2018-201U for Supply, Delivery, Installation, Testing, Commissioning and Support of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System and Supporting Hardware and Software Components: The tender was awarded to Alltab Africa who was supposed to perform as per contract within a period of 3 years (2018-2021). Seven (7) years down the line and KNH has not substantially adopted this system. The CEO, Director Procurement and Director Finance took their cuts and left the institution to suffer. U4% payments have been done to the vendor yet the system implementation is at 3G%. Some questionable payments were done as variations.
KNH – OTHAYA (MWAI KIBAKI HOSPITAL)
Through the ministry of health, KNH was given the mandate to run Mwai Kibaki Hospital. The management during the infrastructure development tenders contravened all procurement laws by giving illegal contract variations that were against what is provided by law. The president was supposed to commission the hospital in Othaya Nyeri. The hospital is now a black spot of corruption and impunity thanks to the Kamuri’s regime.
It has been established that, in 2022, during campaigns, the CEO transferred a whopping Kshs. 400M from KNH accounts to Mwai Kibaki hospital without approval of the BOM. These monies were immediately withdrawn and channeled to the Azimio campaign team. Same was done in KPCC (100M)
Flambert Holdings Ltd vs Kenyatta National Hospital
In this case that involved a contractor for lab placement equipment in 201G, the court awarded the contractor, Kshs. 45M for goods delivered to KNH and not frustrations by the Hospital management arising from professional misconduct. In a subsequent sitting, The Board of Management resolved that the monies would be recovered from the Directors responsible for the illegal exercise.
The legal director, Mr Calvin Nyachoti would later fail to formally communicate and initiate execution of these resolutions and to date the issue remains unresolved with an intention to cover the directors.
Chapter C of the constitution – Leadership and Integrity
A State officer shall behave, whether in public and official life, in private life, or in association with other persons, in a manner that avoids demeaning the office the officer holds. The officers in question have failed to honor chapter G of the constitution and we beseech therefore that it is in order that the necessary actions should be taken against them before the hospital is totally crushed, wrecked and put in shambles.
Quick action is needed to save the country’s biggest hospital from imminent ruin.
