How the controversial medical equipment programme was conceived

The MES project was signed on February 5, 2015, by the Ministry of Health and respective MES service providers.

In June 2023, CoG then chair Anne Waiguru and then Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha signed to scrap the MES project, that was renamed National Equipment Support, in an agreement made in Naivasha.

The MES project, launched by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta, was marred by controversy. Council of Governors led by Isaac Ruto was against counties picking the modern equipment, after it emerged that governors were not in copy of what they were signing to.

The ministry signed a deal with five firms to lease equipment such as dialysis machines and MRI scanners, on behalf of 47 counties.

It was awarded five slots for theatre equipment, theatre instruments and a central sterile services department, renal equipment, radiology equipment and ICU equipment.

Notably, although counties had money debited from their accounts annually, most of the equipment was not delivered. This raised the question why billing was happening before delivery of the equipment.

Initially, the deal was for Sh38 billion but it was later pushed to the current Sh63 billion. Ministry officials told senators that they had intended to equip an additional 21 hospitals.

The original scheme would have seen each county pay Sh665 million at the end of leasing period. But the varied figure will see them pay Sh1.3 billion at the end of seven years.

Nine years later, it has emerged that there are counties which have been consistently billed by the national government yet no medical equipment has been delivered to date.

In 2015, the counties had estimated that if they were to do an outright purchase of all the equipment leased, it would cost each county Sh181.6 million at prevailing market rates for two hospitals. They argued that a six year 7.5 per cent value service contract would total Sh41.3 million each, bringing the overall cost of the equipment to Sh223 million over the seven years.

Among those who got the lucrative deals include Shenzen Midray Bio-Electronics Company of China, which supplied theatre equipment to 96 hospitals at a cost of Sh47 billion. Esteem Industries of India was awarded a Sh9 billion contract to supply surgical and sterilising instruments to 96 hospitals.

Bello SRL of Italy got a contract of Sh2.4 billion to supply renal and dialysis machines to the 47 counties and two national referral hospitals, while Philips Medical Systems of the Netherlands secured a Sh3.7 billion deal to supply ICU equipment to 11 hospitals.

American firm General Electric won a Sh25.5 billion contract to supply radiology and other imaging equipment to 98 hospitals.

Hospitals in Kacheliba in West Pokot, Kabarnet in Baringo, Baragoi in Samburu and Garbatula in Marsabit had equipment delivered but they never worked.