Over 450 KEMSA Employees Likely to Be Laid Off

The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has issued a general notice letter to all non-core staff to work from home for 30 days as they restructure.

The authority’s mull of the restructure could see hundreds of staff sent home, and it comes at a time when the authority is facing criticism over fund misappropriation.

“The Board confirms that the necessary interventions have been put in place to avoid undue disruptions to service delivery and day to day operations,” read part of the statement from KEMSA.

The authority further added that the release of all staff to work from home is a procedural formality to facilitate the review of the organizational structure.

“The restructure will be undertaken expeditiously to ensure that the staff complement is fit for purpose and within the approved staff establishment levels,” stated the authority.

KEMSA board, on Thursday, said it is facing financial, supply chain, warehousing, and distribution crises.

This came following a report done by KEMSA Immediate Action Plan and MediumTerm Reforms Working Committee (KIAPRWC) which revealed challenges in critical functions within the Authority that demand immediate attention.

The challenges identified in the report confirm that KEMSA is currently grossly underperforming and largely unable to meet clients’ urgent needs. Its underperformance is affecting the proper delivery of essential Medicines and Products to the Counties, Referral Hospitals, and Programs.

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This has endangered the lives of Kenyans and is gravely threatening the realization of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which is critically predicated on a successful and optimally operating KEMSA.

The significant underperformance and financial crisis can be linked to corruption and the authority’s failure to control its capacity.

Although the KEMSA says that the challenges and the debt crisis arise from structures that are not optimized to collect, it is worth noting that it is incredibly overstaffed.

As of the year 2018/2019, KEMSA had 791 employees against the approved staff size of 341. The excess employees are therefore 450. This is the approximate number of individuals that are set to lose their jobs.

Where there are any contingency plans for the staff that will be laid off, or the exact number of the individuals to be fired remains within the knowledge of the authority’s board.