Thursday, 5 June, 2025
PIC-SSAA probes financial mismanagement, calls for improved health service delivery
Wednesday 4th June, 2025. 5th Floor Bunge Tower, Parliament Buildings.
The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture, chaired by Navakholo constituency MP Hon. Emanuel Wangwe, today met with officials from the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to scrutinize queries raised in the Auditor-General’s report for the Financial Year 2022/2023 to 2023/2024.
The KUTRRH team was led by Acting CEO Dr. Zainab Gura, faced tough questions on several financial and operational issues, including the disposal of obsolete stock, mounting individual receivables, and budget over-expenditure.
The Auditor-General flagged Kshs.15.1 million worth of non-pharmaceutical items, included in the hospital’s inventory of Kshs.286.7 million, as obsolete. According to Dr. Gura, the items in question were Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) donated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These PPEs were received in kind from partners during the pandemic. However, after the pandemic subsided, they were no longer usable and were incinerated,” she told the Committee.
However, Committee Chairperson Hon. Wangwe questioned the hospital’s documentation of the disposal process.
“Do you have a certificate from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to support the disposal?” he asked. “The Committee is supposed to oversee such processes, and the certificate is key to authenticating the disposal.”
Ndhiwa MP Hon. Martin Peters Owino emphasized the legal and environmental implications. “We’re talking about the disposal of potentially hazardous materials. Is there a policy guiding this?” he pressed.
A supply chain manager from the hospital clarified that while the disposal was conducted internally using NEMA-certified equipment, the Committee insisted that a certificate from NEMA was still essential.
Another issue raised was the hospital’s receivables, totalling Kshs.1.29 billion. Of this, Kshs.123.5 million is owed by individual patients, with over Kshs.61.6 million already classified as doubtful debts.
Dr. Gura explained that many of these debts were owed by patients who had recovered but were unable to fully settle their hospital bills.
“We enter payment agreements with such patients using collaterals like title deeds, allowing us to release beds for more urgent cases. We also make provisions for bad debts and write them off if recovery is deemed impossible,” she said.
She added that the hospital has since instituted a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Debt Management, ongoing debt validation, and a dedicated reconciliation team. Socio-economic assessments are now conducted during patient admission to identify high-risk cases early.
The Auditor-General also flagged an over-expenditure of Kshs.1.29 billion, representing 21% over the approved budget of Kshs.6.13 billion. The overrun, mainly due to employee compensation and the purchase of goods and services, lacked evidence of formal budget re-approval.
In response, KUTRRH management admitted to the over-expenditure and blamed it on increased patient inflow and unfunded statutory deductions like the NSSF and Housing Levy.
“The hospital had requested an allocation of Kshs.7.28 billion, but only received Kshs.6.13 billion,” Dr. Gura said. “As a public facility, we cannot turn away patients due to funding shortfalls. We appeal for full funding, especially for personnel emoluments.”
She revealed that in the current 2024/2025 financial year, the hospital is already facing a personnel funding gap of Kshs.1.5 billion.
Vice-Chairperson Hon. Caleb Amisi urged the hospital to focus on improving service quality, saying better-managed facilities could turn Kenya into a hub for medical tourism.
“If we get our health system right, we can reduce the burden on Kenyans who travel abroad for treatment and even attract foreign patients,” he said, citing countries like Turkey and India as examples.
His sentiments were echoed by Hon. Jackson Kosgei who decried the lack of basic services in most public hospitals, which they said leaves many Kenyans suffering or seeking care abroad.