KU Hospital on the Spot for Using Covid-19 Funds to Pay Medics Working Abroad

The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is probing the alleged use of public funds to pay Kenyan medics working in Seychelles.

This comes after an audit on Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital’s (KUTTRH) Covid-19 kitty revealed that taxpayers paid salaries of 50 local medics sent to the island nation as part of the Covid-19 response campaign.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu in a report says KUTTRH independently received Sh1.3 billion from the Covid-19 fund and as of October 2020, the facility had spent Sh203.54 million of the amount. Part of the expenditure included the payment of salaries of the 50 local medical practitioners sent to work in Seychelles.

“The 50 newly recruited staff are serving in another country institution contrary to the purpose of the funds,” the audit says.

Auditors say the agreement between Kenya and Seychelles was made on a national level, hence the Seychelles government should have been the one remunerating the 50 medics.

“This is notwithstanding that the Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) under the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act,” said Gathungu.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), KUTTRH acting CEO Dr. Victor Njom said the medical practitioners were sent to Seychelles following orders by Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache.

Dr. Njom struggled to justify how the money was used and could not provide any documentation indicating that the 50 health workers traveled to Seychelles.

“So, who gave you the authorization to hire the 50 health personnel and send them to Seychelles? You used Covid money to finance staff working in another country yet the AIE (authority to incur expenditure) does not support that. What did their work entail? How did they leave Kenya to work in another country without any documentation?” PAC Chairman Opiyo Wandayi posed.