Ex-Kemsa boss says DP Gachagua sought to sway Sh3.7b tender award

Former Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mulwa Thursday told the Senate how Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua called him to influence a Sh3.7 billion mosquito net tender.

Mulwa told the Senate how he was shaken when he received a phone call from Gachagua seeking to influence the awarding of the tender to a company associated with his son Ikinu Rigathi.

Mulwa told Senators that in his 15 years of service he had never been asked to do that by a person of the caliber of the Deputy President which prompted him to visit the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to ask for the release of the bid bond since he felt pressured and coerced.

The former CEO said that besides the Deputy President, his son Ikinu called him and sent him WhatsApp messages telling him that there were some documents he intended to collect on behalf of his father and asked him when he could meet him to collect them as planned.

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“From where I sat as the Acting CEO of KEMSA I felt pressured and coerced since documents that the Deputy President and his son were asking for were not in our possession. They were with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption since the matter was under investigation,” said Mulwa.

He said that given the status, power and influence of the people involved in the interference and covering up for bid bond for the Sh3.7 billion mosquito tender, he was constrained to surrender the original bid bond for Shobika Impex whose local agent was Crystal Limited associated with Ikinu.

Narok Senator Ledama OleKina asked him to give a chronology of events, and Mulwa said that Global Fund wrote to its management in Kenya on its decision to terminate the Sh 3.7 billion mosquito net tender with procurement of the tender  in February with valuation report shared by Global Fund.

Mulwa said Global Fund realised that the tender awarded to Shobika Limited had issues and the tender was supposed to be closed in March with the bid bond already having issues and that it was submitted without due procedure bringing a lot of issues leading to the dismissal of the Principal Secretary.