Ruto Hits Back At Governor Kahiga Over SHA ‘Fake News’
On Thursday, December 5, President William Ruto responded to the drama involving the Social Health Authority (SHA)’s mysterious supplier.
During the Kilifi International Investment Conference, Ruto denied reports of a looming SHA scandal.
This comes after it was revealed that unknown suppliers were expected to get billions of dollars for leasing medical equipment under a county-Health Ministry arrangement.
The issue originates from counties’ claims that they were forced to sign the lease arrangement with mysterious suppliers without following proper processes.
“There is a lot of fake news and incorrect information going around. The procurement of equipment that I see in the media; there was a procurement process that was carried out between the counties and the Ministry of Health,” Ruto noted.
“There is no obligation from any county to get any equipment from any supplier. Anybody who says that they (county governments) were forced by the national government to sign the supply contract, those are conmen and liars,” he added.
“Governor Mung’aro is here. Governor Abdulswamad and Fatuma are here. Ask them. There is nobody who forced them to sign the contract.”
President Ruto: There will be no corruption in SHA/SHIF so long as I am the President of Kenya pic.twitter.com/CoBfHz20da
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 5, 2024
Mutahi Kahiga, vice chair of the Council of Governors and governor of Nyeri, said that counties were pushed to sign the contract as part of the government’s increased drive to achieve the SHA rollout.
Kahiga stated that counties had little say in the matter because they did not have the financial resources to purchase the equipment.
So far, 34 county governments are claimed to have signed the agreement, but information about the legal basis of the procurement procedure remains scarce.
“What they have done is to set 23 lots of equipment, so you pick a lot that you think is required for your specific hospital, after picking is when you know the providers, but whoever selected them was a program decided by the national government, we are just landlords,” Kahiga claimed.
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In response, the Health Ministry, through Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, clarified the lease of medical equipment through the National Equipment Service Program.
According to Barasa, after the Medical Equipment Service (MES) program expired in December 2023, the ministry and the COG collaborated to develop a transition strategy to guarantee the procurement process continued.
At the same time, Ruto assured Kenyans that SHA has zero tolerance for graft.
“I want to assure Kenyans that there will be no cases of graft for as long as I am president,” he affirmed.
Ruto Hits Back At Governor Kahiga Over SHA ‘Fake News’
