Kenyan officials fired over mosquito net scam

Kenya’s President William Ruto has sacked a principal secretary in charge of public health and disbanded the entire board of a medical supplies agency amid a corruption scandal.

The scam involves a bungled tender involving the supply of donor-funded treated bed nets meant to protect against malaria-causing mosquitoes worth $27m (£21.5m).

The Global Fund had tasked the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) to procure more than 10 million nets to be distributed to low-income households in about half of the counties in the country that are malaria-endemic.

But Global Fund cancelled the tender – accusing Kemsa of irregularities by allegedly favouring one company whose documents were not in order, and unfairly locking out others.

In 2020, Kemsa was again in the spotlight over claims of misappropriation of millions of dollars intended to buy personal protective equipment and other essential health facilities at the height of the Covid pandemic.