KEMSA Staff Earned Sh800 Million From Home as Others Toiled for Them

The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) has continued to pay millions of shillings to 350 staff whom the state directed to work from home during the covid-19 pandemic. 

Reports disclose that 350 employees who started working from home have continued to earn full salaries. The state embraced the purge in November 2021 in an attempt to bring order to the already embattled agency. The Kemsa employees worked from home as casuals took over. However, even after the casuals' contracts expired,  reports indicate that they continued to earn huge salaries and decent allowances. 

The employees remained home for 19 months, a period that saw them pocket Sh45 million monthly, adding up to Sh855 million. The Health Ministry raised the alarm on April 14 with a statement that communicated the suspension of Kemsa Chief Executive Officer Terry Ramadhani. 

"Kemsa's staff establishment as per the approved instruments stands at 378 against an in-post of 910 employees. Before the review of the HR instruments, the authority had an approved staff establishment of 348," said immediate former Principal Secretary for Medical Services Peter Tum. 

The suspension of Ramadhani comes barely a month after Mr Tum directed the ex-CEO to recall all employees in a bid to address the employment anomalies in the agency. On Monday, the state suspended Ramadhani amid the Global Fund tender scandal.