Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) CEO Terry Ramadhan now faults the courts for blocking reforms at the body.
While appearing before the National Assembly committee on Friday, Ramadhan says the authority has been unable to move forward because of gag orders.
She cited a case example of a redundancy notice that aimed at relieving the authority from the bolted workforce as one of the measures they initiated to save the embattled Kemsa.
The move stalled after a court order was issued stopping it from being effected.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in November 2021 barred the authority from declaring redundancy or terminating the services of its staff.
Ramadhan lamented that the courts had held its administration captive as would-be affected staff had secured various court orders at the employment and labour court and the high court.
“Our courts have continuously stopped us from the reform process, in my view, they should have let us do our work first and settle controversies later,” she told the committee chaired by Endebess MP Robert Pukose.
Seme MP James Nyikal advised KEMSA to seek the attorney general’s advisory to unlock the various court orders as well as be able to navigate on the redundancy notice.
The CEO also refuted claims that management had sent its staff on compulsory leave saying that nobody had been fired or terminated.
“They are working from home. So nobody has been fired or had his services terminated. The persons whose services have terminated are the ones on contracts, whose term came naturally to an end and we did not renew,” she held.
In the revised staff establishment, KEMSA has provision for 341 staff against an old establishment of 870 employees, who are serving on permanent and pensionable terms as well as those on contracts.
Whereas, there are at least 40 staff on short term and secondment basis.
According to the CEO, the current structure does not support critical functions including planning, quality management, partnerships, resource mobilization and compliance mechanism which has heavily affected the effectiveness of service delivery.
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