- Bett said the counties owe Kemsa over Sh3 billion in debts.
- He however said Baringo County was fairly doing well, adding that they were still engaging the rest of the counties.
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Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) board director Bernard Bett has urged counties to fast-track the clearance of the pending bills to ensure smooth service provision.
Bett said the counties owe Kemsa over Sh3 billion in debts.
Speaking in Baringo County during a free mosquito net distribution exercise on Tuesday, Bett said they are still engaging the counties to assist them clear the pending debts.
The distribution is being done by the Ministry of Health through Kemsa in collaboration with Global Fund and the counties.
Bett however said Baringo County was fairly doing well, adding that they were still engaging the rest of the counties.
"We are happy that we are making progress in engaging the counties. Our order fill rate is still at 60 per cent. We are hopeful we will get those debts cleared. By the end of the year we shall be somewhere close to 90 per cent," he said.
"We are reaching out to the Council of Governors and individual counties to ensure that they pay the debts so that our operations can move forward."
In May 2024, the Senate Health Committee ordered Kemsa to stop delivering medical supplies to counties over the debt.
The Senate Health Committee directed the agency after revelations that almost all the county governments have accumulated massive debts.
Then, only Wajir County did not owe Kemsa.
Some counties have not paid Kemsa for more than two years.
"As a committee, we must get to the bottom of this matter and get a solution today. Any county whose debt is more than 30 days old must not get any supplies," Narok Senator Ledama Olekina said then.
The then Kemsa CEO Andrew Mulwa told the committee that counties had failed to pay despite frequent reminders and threats to cut supplies.
"We confirm that Kemsa's debts owed by the counties as of May 8, 2024, is Sh3.03 billion. Out of this amount, Sh2.08 billion has been outstanding for more than 90 days," Mulwa said.
As at May 2024, Kilifi owed Sh276.62 million, Nairobi owed Sh243.79 million, Machakos owed Sh117.41 million, while Kitui and Tharaka Nithi had yet to pay Sh116.37 million and Sh150.27 million, respectively.
Other counties with huge debts were Homa Bay Sh104.81 million, Vihiga Sh94.42 million, Meru Sh85.34 million, Mandera Sh82.93 million and Garissa Sh82.73 million.
Counties that owed the agency the least amount were Kisumu Sh328,008, Makueni Sh74,879, Kiambu Sh2.06 million, Kericho Sh6.63 million, Mombasa Sh7.31 million.