KEMSA orders surge to Sh700 million as counties race against deadline

KEMSA Ag. CEO Dr Andrew Mulwa. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has reported that orders for Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) from counties have reached a total of Sh710 million.

 In a statement released on Monday, July 3, KEMSA explained that the surge in orders was due to counties rushing to submit their requests before the announced cut-off date, which takes effect on Monday, July 3, 2023.

"Last week, we observed a significant increase in orders as counties hurriedly placed their requests with KEMSA ahead of our cut-off date, which will temporarily suspend our operations. Emergency supplies will still be handled on a need basis," stated the authority.

Starting from June, KEMSA began receiving and processing HPT orders from various counties, including Siaya (Sh44.5M), Machakos (Sh45M), Bomet (Sh65M), Meru (Sh68M), Embu (Sh15M), and Mandera (Sh 11 million).

By the end of last week, KEMSA had also processed orders from Trans Nzoia (Sh35M), Nyamira (Sh30M), Bungoma (Sh13M), Kilifi (Sh300M), Kwale (Sh70M), Nandi (Sh32M), and Garissa (Sh 4.3M).

To ensure an uninterrupted supply of medical commodities to county health facilities, KEMSA's Acting CEO, Dr. Andrew Mulwa, has urged the operations directorate to expedite the processing of all orders before the stock take begins.

"We want to ensure a continuous supply of HPTs to county health facilities during this crucial annual routine exercise. Therefore, I call upon the commercial division to advise all counties to submit their orders ahead of time to avoid any last-minute rush," said Dr. Mulwa.

The Authority has planned to conduct the stock take exercise efficiently and expects normal business operations to resume on Monday, July 10, 2023.

"Stock-taking is an essential aspect of business management, especially for an organization like KEMSA, which holds an annual physical inventory valued at over Sh100 billion,” explained Dr. Mulwa.

“We take this exercise seriously as it allows us to identify and quantify existing stock levels, verify stock conditions, and ensure that there are no unexplained discrepancies between our system records and the inventory in our warehouses."