Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1522077,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1522077/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mandago",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13577,
        "legal_name": "Kiplagat Jackson Mandago",
        "slug": "kiplagat-jackson-mandago"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, allow me to also comment on the Statement by Sen. Olekina on the issue of KEMSA and distribution of drugs. Part of the challenges that we have seen in the past with KEMSA is the process of repackaging drugs when they are sent to counties after requisitions are made. That process has resulted into losses of certain quantities of drugs. The other challenge that we have seen, which emanates from county staff in the health sector, is requisitioning of drugs that can only be prescribed by consultants or health workers in Level 1 or 2 hospitals. The current structure of distribution leaves room for pilferage of drugs. When KEMSA sends drugs which are supposed to be prescribed by consultants directly to health facilities which have requisitioned them - in most cases, they are very expensive - they do not end up in those facilities. They are repackaged somewhere in the middle and counties lose money. Secondly, I find a problem with that kind of distribution. Our procurement laws require that for every procurement, there should be an inspection and acceptance committee that ensures we have the right quantity and quality of what was ordered. Currently, such committees have been rendered useless because it is only health workers in the facilities who receive drugs, therefore, creating uncertainty in the quantity, quality and value for money in the counties. I will give an example in my county when I served as governor. We had already served for five years and we used to have challenges of lack of drugs in our facilities. We got a new County Executive Committee Member (CECM), who looked at the budget for health, which was Kshs200 million per year, and she said that that money was more than enough because we did not have a sick population in Uasin Gishu. We told her that there was a problem of drugs not being available in hospitals. We changed the system from distributing directly to our health facilities, to receiving drugs at the county headquarters. On the first day, there was a standoff between KEMSA, logistics fellows who were supplying drugs and staff in the county. They did not want the drugs to be inspected. We discovered that for a consignment we had ordered for about Kshs70 million, what we received was worth about Kshs30 million. Therefore, even as KEMSA thinks of how drugs are going to be distributed across the country, there must be mechanisms of making sure that acceptance and inspection committees are in place, even if it means at the facility level. Last time KEMSA appeared before the Committee on Health and informed us that they were in the process of acquiring an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. My problem with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that the Kenya Medical Supply Agency (KEMSA) wants to acquire is the cost. KEMSA says it wants to acquire an ERP system at the cost of Kshs1 billion. Some of us have been fortunate to work in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector and we know Kshs1 billion can probably buy another four ERP systems. I think there is a problem of costing of ICT systems in Government. Probably because the sector is highly technical and we are very few experts, this cost of knowledge of ICT seems to be becoming very expensive at the expense of the actual software that is 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."
}