KEMSA Board states reforms must be completed as part of the overall health sector transformation goals
By: Alfred Nganga
Worth Noting:
- Transformation in the Health Sector will guarantee better health outcomes for the citizenry and is undoubtedly a matter of life and death.
- Consequently, this week, all Directors and Senior Managers, among other staff members with pending leave days, have been asked to proceed on leave as part of the Human Resource Management strategy to reduce the leave days liability.
- The Board has carefully mapped out all affected functions, and competent officers are appointed to handle the roles in an acting capacity under the Acting CEO, Mr John Kabuchi.
- The appointment of the interim officers is geared at ensuring smooth management functions transition as the substantive officers are away on leave while ensuring business continuity.
The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) wishes to confirm that efforts to facilitate reforms at the organisation have progressed and several milestones have been achieved.
The reforms at KEMSA are being undertaken in strict adherence to the legal and regulatory protocols that guide organisational transformation programmes. These reforms and turnaround efforts are strategically designed to provide a solid foundation for the uptake of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goal among other national healthcare development plans.
To this end, the Board wishes to provide the following updates:
- KEMSA has been undertaking a transformation programme to fine-tune the organisation to current market demands. This process kicked off late last year, and all staff members were requested to work from home. As part of this process, the Board has progressed to the next level in this transformation journey and achieved specific milestones. The transformation and reforms at KEMSA are an essential government agenda. Speaking during the launch of the national scale-up of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Mombasa earlier this week, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta was categorical that KEMSA reforms must be completed as part of the overall health sector transformation goals.
- As part of the national UHC Scale-up commitments, the Government has committed to ensuring 100% access to essential medicines for all Kenyans visiting public health centres. Working towards the achievement of UHC, last year, KEMSA procured Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) worth KShs. 35.84 billion, with about 11,500 health facilities managing to draw down 97% of these commodities.
- Transformation in the Health Sector will guarantee better health outcomes for the citizenry and is undoubtedly a matter of life and death. Consequently, this week, all Directors and Senior Managers, among other staff members with pending leave days, have been asked to proceed on leave as part of the Human Resource Management strategy to reduce the leave days liability. The Board has carefully mapped out all affected functions, and competent officers are appointed to handle the roles in an acting capacity under the Acting CEO, Mr John Kabuchi. The appointment of the interim officers is geared at ensuring smooth management functions transition as the substantive officers are away on leave while ensuring business continuity.
- The Board remains cognisant and continues to respect the legal processes currently underway. The Board does not intend to pre-empt the outcomes and has actively defended its position in court as necessary. Nonetheless, the smooth running of KEMSA, as a critical infrastructure and medical supply chain agency, remains an essential priority for the Government. As part of the Big Four Agenda, the Government has stressed the need to ensure the fruitful conclusion of the transformation journey to support and facilitate the national scale-up of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program.
- It is instructive to note that the transformation journey can be derailed by the continued accumulation of leave days. As mentioned above KEMSA Board has not fired a single employee. However, all officers with pending leave days have been alerted and asked to proceed on leave to reduce this liability, which reflects on the organisational balance sheet.
- The Board appreciates the efforts and support provided by various stakeholders towards facilitating the institutional turnaround. As disclosed late last year, KEMSA is currently owed Ksh. 6.4 Billion and owes its creditors Ksh. 4.5 Billion. Many of the creditors, particularly County governments, have responded positively to our engagements and are now paying part of the amounts owed to KEMSA. We still have a long way to go to collect the debt owing, but we continue to engage with the County governments to prioritise these payments. We are also releasing pending supplier payments as the resources are availed on our end. The Government has also provided much-needed facilitation to clear KEMSA reforms roadblocks.
Therefore, the Board confirms that KEMSA is now in a very fair position from an acute condition last year and is firmly on the road to full recovery as envisaged.
At the UHC pilot stage, we learnt some invaluable lessons that we will apply to facilitate equitable, affordable and quality health services. The Authority has put in place strategic measures to contribute to UHC realisation as a strategic delivery partner significantly. KEMSA is a crucial pillar on this UHC journey, and the Board undertakes to ensure efficient service delivery as required.
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