MPs have recommended the recovery of Sh31 million from former Kenyatta National Hospital chief executive officer Dr Meshack Onguti over the loss of millions of public cash.
National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee in its 24th report faulted the national referral hospital for doing little to recover the cash paid to three firms.
PIC in its 19th report had recommended the former CEO be surcharged for the loss of cash but KNH management had not implemented the same.
“The management and board of the hospital had not done enough to follow up on the loss of public funds,” the report said.
The committee chaired by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir now wants the KNH board to recover the millions from Onguti three months after the adoption of the report.
The report covers 2013-14 to 2017-18 financial years.
“The board of KNH should fully implement the PIC recommendations, as contained in the 19th Report, on the matter within three months of the adoption of this report by surcharging the then Chief Executive Officer, Dr Meshack Onguti for the loss totalling Sh31,733,575.90,” the committee recommends.
PIC also wants the Committee on Implementation to make a follow-up on its recommendations to ensure they are implemented.
According to the report tabled in the House on Thursday last week, three firms pocketed Sh31,733,575 prepayment that related to supply contracts and which were never delivered.
The firms are High Voltage Communications Limited (Sh15,792,611), Glotex Medical Kenya Limited (Sh13,727,655) and Microtec Office Supplies (Sh2,213,309).
High Voltage Communications Limited was to supply submersible pumping equipment into helipad borehole and defluorination plants for boreholes at helipad and laundry.
The matter ended in dispute and the arbitration team awarded KNH Sh14,876,645 in 2012 after a protracted arbitration but the realisation of the award was fruitless. This is after the Registrar of Companies said the firm’s files were missing from their electronic database.
“In the absence of the company’s file and records at the registry, the management was unable to pursue any legal recourse for recovery of the advanced sums,” the report reads.
Glotex, on the other hand, was given advance payment in 2003 for the supply of nuclear medicine materials which were never delivered.
Like High Voltage, Glotex, it appeared, was missing from the list of registered firms at the ROC making it impossible to institute legal action against a non-existing entity.
In the case of Microtec, the firm was to supply microfilm equipment to microfilm inactive medical records at Sh3.6 million in 1999.
The firm received 60 per cent payment but only performed 34 per cent of the contract work.
“The hospital was unable to follow up on the recovery of the amounts advanced sincesection 4(1) of the Limitation of Actions Act, Cap 22 provides that actions founded oncontract may not be brought after the end of six (6) years from the date on which the causeof action accrue,” PIC report reads.
The Nassir-led team also wants the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate how letters of credit vanished from KNH and press charges against the perpetrators.
This was after it emerged that letters of credit worth Sh96.5 million issued by the hospital to foreign based firms for supply of goods and services could not be traced.
“It was mysterious to learn that letters of credit and related documentation coulddisappear from the hospital.”
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