Uhuru’s CS in Trouble for Putting His Legacy in Jeopardy

Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki is on the spot following her ministry’s decision to cancel a Ksh4.9 billion tender, therefore, affecting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy.

The Health Ministry moved to cancel a tender with a company contracted to provide technical support to his Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda.

The tender was awarded to an ICT firm identified as the SevenSeas Technology, which had been tasked with the provision of a Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT) system under the Management Equipment Service (MES).

According to a Monday, December 2, report by Daily Nation, the CS was summoned to appear before the Senate ad hoc committee investigating MES over the cancellation of the tender.

The paper further indicated that the CS, who was allegedly scheduled to appear before the committee on Wednesday, December 4, would be expected to address inconsistencies in the information from the ministry.

“The CS is required to provide the reasons for the hurried termination of the contract a day after SevenSeas provided its evidence and the cost to the taxpayer,” read part of a statement from the committee.

The government stands to lose up to Ksh20 billion if the termination proceeds since the company was set to roll out the project in five years.

The company was informed of the cancellation by a letter from Health PS Susan Mochache citing disagreements over contract details.

The project entailed the establishment of a hospital information system and supporting the ICT infrastructure to benefit public hospitals nationwide towards the achievement of an e-health system that would have put the country’s health system on course to be at par with those in developed countries.

The project also entailed the deployment of Health information systems and supporting infrastructure across 98 county and sub-county referral facilities, including 47 Level 4, 5, and 6 hospitals and four referral hospitals.

SevenSeas Technology won the tender in October 2017 and while appearing before the Senate committee in November 2018, it explained the tender had been terminated on grounds that some clauses that appeared in the contract were not in the original tender documents.