The Kemsa warehouse in Embakasi, Nairobi/ kemsa.co.ke
NAIROBI, Kenya May 26- A lobby group has moved to court to challenge the appointment of Terry Kiunge Ramadhani as the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency’s (Kemsa) new Chief Executive Officer.
Sheria Mtaani, a non-governmental organisation aimed at giving a voice to the less privileged, says in a case filed under a certificate of urgency that the search for Kemsa’s top boss was conducted in secrecy and failed to involve the general public.
Additionally, the lobby group highlighted that Kemsa failed to disclose the names of the applicants, the shortlisted candidates and the dates of the interviews to enable members of the public to participate and give their views.
“The recruitment process was opaque with no provision for public participation at any stage of the entire process. No lists of applicants were publicized or lists of shortlisted candidates or the public invited or given an opportunity to comment on the shortlisted candidates and the venue and times for the interviews were not advertised or publicized,” the lobby group said.
The post for Kemsa CEO was advertised on March 5, 2022.
Justice Anthony Mrima directed the lobby group’s lawyer Shadrack Wambui to serve Kemsa within five days. The case will be mentioned on June 6 for directions.
The lobby group wants the court to stop the appointment before she assumes office on July 1.
Wambui says the process was marred by a conflict of interest as Ramadhani was allegedly selected by her fellow board members, who she served with until a few days before the recruitment process began.
He said the appointment is a classic demonstration of the breach of the rule of law, tenets of good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability.
“Contrary to the established principles of transparency and accountability, the 2nd Respondent (Kemsa) conducted the sham process with great secrecy and failed to involve the public,” Wambui said.
Ramadhani, who was the director of the human resource committee, resigned a few days before she was picked as the new CEO.
She replaced former CEO Jonah Manjari who was suspended last year after a multi-billion-shilling procurement scam was reported at the state agency.
“The board of Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) wishes to notify all staff of the appointment of Terry Kiunge Ramadhani as the chief executive of Kemsa,” Kemsa chair Mary Chao Mwadime said in a letter to the agency’s workers dated 19 May 2022
Prior to Ramadhan’s appointment, John Kabuchi had been acting CEO at Kemsa since Manjari’s suspension over the Covid-19 supplies scandal.
Manjari was Fredrick Wanyonyi’s replacement who had been serving at the State corporation in an acting capacity for over six months.
Ramadhani, a veteran HR practitioner, quit her board role at the Kemsa earlier this year before her term expired.
