Michael Macharia, 41, CEO of SevenSeas Technologies is staring at a Ksh 3.9 billion windfall after a project his company had with the national government was stopped on its tracks as reported by Daily Nation on Thursday, February 13.
The IT firm had signed a contract with the Ministry of Health on October 2, 2017, that was aimed at the provision of healthcare communication information technology (HCIT) solutions for the Managed Equipment Service (MES) project.
The project was an initiative by the national government to equip a select 98 hospitals in the country with leased theatre, ICU, renal and radiology equipment, among other medical equipment at a cost of Ksh4.9 billion.
The publication reported that Attorney General Paul Kihara and Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki will on February 13, appear before the senate ad hoc committee chaired by Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo to clarify on the circumstances that resulted in the cancellation of the contract that had been awarded to the IT firm.
SevenSeas faulted the ministry for wrongfully terminating the contract, a move that may result in the loss of taxpayer money amounting to Ksh3.9 billion in compensation to the company.
Under the contract, the IT firm was required to fully offer tech solutions to hospitals ranging from software and hardware interfaces, training, ongoing maintenance, as well as necessary changes in the support of MES services at the county, sub-county and referral health facilities.
Chief State Counsel James Mwenda who is attached to the Ministry of Health from the office of the AG previously appeared before the committee where he stated that he had been directed to not speak on the issue, stating the AG was open to making an appearance in person.
The ministry in a letter dated November 18, 2019, had written to SevenSeas cancelling the tender citing the firm had been awarded the tender illegally.
Health PS Susan Mochache asked the firm to stop all works further arguing that they were behind schedule and lacked the financial ability to undertake the project.
“Implementation of the HCIT contract and execution of the project as envisaged is now stalled. Your firm has abandoned the site for more than 16 months. Essentially, this means that your firm has been unable to meet the agreed milestones on the implementation schedule," the letter read in part.
“The requirement for an original copy of the support letter to be given to your firm does not feature anywhere in the tender documents, and it is overtly clear to the ministry that your firm lacks the requisite financial capacity to execute the HCIT contract,
“It is now apparent that despite having attained a high score of 20 out of 20 in the financial evaluation, your firm does not have the financial capacity to perform the HCIT contract and has been unable to mobilise any funding without a GoK letter of support,” the letter added.
In November 2019, Macharia appeared before the senate committee where he stated that his firm had procured equipment worth Ksh250 million meant for the Kenyatta National Hospital but had been lying at the Port of Mombasa since January 2018.
