Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji has returned file on alleged procurement irregularities to the EACC at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) for further investigations.
Haji said his office had finalised reviewing files of alleged beneficiaries of the alleged scandal at Kemsa and upon review, it emerged that the scope of the investigations was massive.
Several witnesses, entities and thousands of documents were examined.
In a statement on Friday, Haji said that his office received the files containing six names of senior officials at Kemsa from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
“The team identified key areas that need to be sufficiently covered by way of further investigations before a final decision can be made,” Haji said.
He continued, “Having carefully analysed the report by the team and considering the requirements for a strong and successful prosecution, I have come to the conclusion that the identified areas should be covered by the EACC.”
The DPP has further instructed his prosecution team to team with EACC in order to adequately address the identified gaps.
ALSO READ: KEMSA Beneficiaries: Irony of EACC Chief caught in the KEMSA Covid-19 Scandal
Haji acknowledged that the scandal surrounding Kemsa is a matter of public interest and the public will be updated with more details as the probe continues.
Kemsa has been on highlights for alleged irregular procurement and fraudulent payments that led to the loss of Ssh7.8 billion.
The anti-corruption commission carried its investigations within 21 days as per the direction from President Uhuru Kenyatta and submitted the findings to DPP on September 18, 2020.
On Wednesday 30, September, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu presented to the Senate Committee on Health and ad hoc Committee on Covid-19 a special audit report.
He, however, said that the same report has not been delivered to his office and that once received, it will be taken into consideration.
A special audit by the Auditor General had shown that Kenyans lost Sh2.3 billion in the Covid-19 items procurement scandal at Kemsa.
“The procurement process was not initiated based on need assessment and planning resulting in over-procurement of Covid-19 related stock worth Sh6.3b that is still being held at KEMSA warehouses. 97 per cent of the stock has been in the Kemsa warehouses for more than three months implying inadequate market forecasting and planning practices,” Nancy Gathungu reported.
She added, “The items were procured at a higher price as compared to the current market pricing implying that KEMSA may realize a loss of Sh.2,338,261,175 if the products are to be sold at the current market price.”
The auditor General indicated that the management of KEMSA violated various laws leading to the loss of public money.
The report also reveals fraud in procurement and collusion between Kemsa bosses and the companies that were awarded multi-billion shilling contracts.
ALSO READ: KEMSA Scandal: How Board Chairman Kembi Gitura pocketed Sh45 million kick-back
