Health Cabinet secretary Mutahi Kagwe is on the spot after giving orders to have a top scientist in charge of COVID-19 testing at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) fired for allegedly delaying coronavirus results.
Dr Joel Lutomiah was the Centre for Virus Research director and the chairman of the Kemri Rapid Response and was the person who was supposed to brief the Ministry of Health committee on the position of the institute on Covid-19.
Reports by Daily Nation say the dismissal which was authored by the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe carried orders to have Kemri Director-General Yeri Kombe remove Dr Lutomiah from any leadership position at Kemri immediately.
The confidential letter titled “Disciplinary letter”, said the researcher delayed the release of Covid-19 lab results. “This is further to our meeting with the Cabinet secretary this afternoon on the matter relating to your conduct. You, this morning, delayed the release of Covid-19 laboratory results of the previous evening contrary to an earlier agreement with the Ministry of Health that you release them before 8 am. You, therefore, have failed in your duty to honour a matter that is of national importance,” Kombe wrote to Lutomiah.
“I hereby relieve you of your duties as the Director, Centre for Virus with immediate effect. You will hand over to Dr Samson Konongoi, who will act until a substantive holder is appointed. Meanwhile, revert to your previous position as a research scientist.”
Tensions are high at the institute with researchers accusing Prof Kombe of failing to defend a colleague dismissed wrongly.
