Mombasa,KENYA: Kilifi county is among counties that owe the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, KEMSA millions in outstanding debts.
This is according to KEMSA CEO Fredrick Wanyonyi who was speaking when presenting a health report to the Senate health committee in Mombasa on Thursday.
According to the report Kilifi county owes the authority sh 128.5 million just behind Nairobi, Homabay, Makueni and Kitui which owe 285.6 M,146.5M, 136.1M and 146.1M respectively.
In the coast region, Kwale County is second with arrears of 60,257,527 followed by Tanariver county, Taita Taveta county and Lamu county at 38.2 M, 23.8 M and Lamu at 12.2 M respectively.
According to Mr. Wanyonyi, all the counties owed a total of sh.2.82 billion and the debts were one of the inhibiting factors to the achievement of a universal healthcare system.
However, the report also stated that Mombasa and Laikipia counties owed the least amount of debt to the authority at sh. 1.6 m and sh. 860,192 respectively.
The report states that erratic ordering by some of the counties was a big challenge to the authority and the authority was revising their sale agreements to provide timelines in payment.
This comes just a few days after the Nairobi county government said it would be buying medical supplies from private suppliers after the authority stopped supplying over sh. 285M debt.
