•Global Fund representative said his office was kept in the dark over changes to tender specifications.
•Tum cited a January Executive Order that moved the Malaria management to Public health department then headed by Josephine Mburu.
Image: FILE
Investigations into the multi-billion mosquito nets scandal took a new twist after PS Peter Tum denied any involvement in the procurement mess that saw Global Fund terminate the deal.
Tum who was then Principal Secretary in Charge of Medical Services told the Committee proving the Sh3.7 billion that malaria control was not in his docket at the time the procurement was being processed.
In what appears to be passing the buck, Tum said the malaria programme was moved to the State Department for Public Health and Standards then under Josephine Mburu.
He cited a January Executive Order that moved both malaria and TB docket to the Public Health docket.
Tum – now Sports PS – told the Committee chaired by Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago that Mburu’s docket was responsible for the planning, provision of technical support and procurement of the nets.
“The Executive Order No. 1 of 2023 dated 6th January 2023 explicitly assigned the Malaria and TB functions to the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards while the HIV function was assigned to the State Department of Medical Services, ” Tom said.
“The State Department of Medical Services was not responsible for the LLINS procurement as this was a mandate of the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards under the Malaria function.”
The PS further denied playing any role in the variation of specifications of the mosquito nets which was at the center of tender termination.
“I had no role in the tender specifications of the LLINs that were to be procured,” he stated.
While appearing before the Committee last month, Mburu said her docket was not involved in the procurement saying it was under Tum’s Medical Service docket.
“Kemsa was not under me. It was under PS Tum. Whatever happens at Kemsa I have no control,” said PS Mburu.
According to Tum, he only learned of the termination of the multi-billion tender through an email from the Global Fund
The PS was however pushed to explain why the Global Fund chose to communicate to him over the cancellation of the tender when he had nothing to do with the procurement.
Mandago questioned why the global body deemed it fit to communicate to the PS about the cancellation of the tender when he had no role in the procurement.
“So your State Department was not involved in the procurement process while the Global Fund on termination of the docket saw it fit to write to you?” Mandago posed.
On his part, Tum explained that being the person in charge of the HIV function he was enlisted in the mailing list of the global body and hence was a beneficiary of the communications from the donor.
“It is not like they had written to me, I was within their mailing list and Global Fund could communicate to all of us,” Tum explained.
The Mandago also met Global Fund country representative Stephen Muiruri to give his account of irregularities in the procurement process.
Muiruri told the Committee that he was kept in the dark as the Ministry of Health changed the specifications of the insecticides.
"The ministry wrote directly to Kemsa and not our office as was the case," Muiruri said.
The letter raising concern on the specifications was authored by then Public Health PS Josephine Mburu.
"We then advised our agent (Kemsa) not to follow the letter because according to the Global Fund, we are only processing Standard nets not PBOs."
According to Muiruri, it was suspicious that the PS decided to bypass the Global Fund when communicating the specifications change.