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{
    "id": 1522059,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1522059/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 65,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Oketch Gicheru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, we always seen serious innovation going on in the private sector to the extent that when you see it in legislative houses like where we are, you get very proud, especially when you come from a technology background like me. I get happy when I see a legislature like what Sen. Ledama Olekina has proposed here. This is a brilliant idea that will deal with a serious crisis we have in this nation; the management and the delivery of drugs to our people. How KEMSA currently works is very simple, but inefficient and ineffective. Currently, KEMSA has a contract with manufacturers of drugs and pharmaceutical companies, where it buys drugs from them on credit. The terms of the credit it gets from these pharmaceutical companies ranges between 90 to 120 days. Once KEMSA has bought the drugs from these companies on credit, it then sells them on credit to county governments as well as national institutions, such as the referral hospitals we have in the country. That credit for KEMSA is dependent on the Exchequer releases. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you know very well that Exchequer problems in this country sometimes span beyond the gap of 90 to 120 days. We have sometimes seen the days of funds going to even six months without paying people. Some county governments receive their monies when they are just in time to close a financial year, to the extent that absorption becomes a problem. This problem means two things. Number one, once KEMSA has bought the drugs from the manufacturers, it takes the ownership. If a drug is going to expire, and sometimes even some medical equipment like what we saw with masks during the COVID-19 pandemic period, they expire under the ownership of KEMSA and not the manufacturers or pharmaceutical companies. What will KEMSA do in a marketplace? KEMSA will then take those nearly expiring drugs and equipment and donate them to different county governments because they are risking their portfolio. What is Sen. Ledama proposing here? He is proposing that through this enterprise resource planning software, we create a marketplace with a warehouse to store and list the drugs that manufacturers have. I do not believe that KEMSA has one currently and Sen. Ledama should sit in that Committee and propose this strongly. Once you list them, manufacturers take the ownership of the drugs and KEMSA only facilitates the transactions on that platform. This will help with taking the ownership of drugs from KEMSA so that it lies with the manufacturer so that any kind of risk and liabilities, both for credit as well as expiration of drugs and medical equipment do not sit on KEMSA.Most importantly, it gives an avenue of such an innovative fund as SHA to facilitate counties to acquire those drugs on that platform. The SHA, which is an authority that establishes a fund, can now fund counties directly so that hospitals can simply go to this marketplace that Sen. Ledama is creating for us as a country and choose the medicine that you need and then the payment is facilitated on that platform, just as you do with M-Pesa in other businesses that we have seen in this country. This is a very brilliant idea. Above the idea of facilitating a proper transaction that avoids risks, it also ensures there is an audit trail, where you can be able to audit and track drugs from the manufacturer all the way to the hospitals. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}