The Public Investments Committee (PIC) on Tuesday, December 8, heard that a suspended Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) director broke down in tears in his office and prayed for strength to overcome his woes.
Pamela Kaburu, a personal secretary to the Director of Procurement at KEMSA, Charles Juma, testified that her boss was overwhelmed after being pressured to sign illegal procurement tenders which saw billions of money embezzled.
Kaburu accused suspended KEMSA CEO Jonah Manjari of calling Juma at night, during off days and weekends to sign the tenders and to desist from making inquiries into the awarding process.
She added the working relationship between the two bosses severed and more tenders were approved inside Manjari's office without the consent of other procurement managers.
This pushed Juma to reportedly consider tendering his resignation.
"I was shocked to find Juma crying in his office. He was so bitter. As I pleaded with him to calm down, he explained how he was being pressured to proceed with a process he knew was illegal.
"I advised him not to resign because he has children and needed to be there for them. We prayed together and I went back to the office," Kaburu claimed.
She added that Juma cried again, later on, after learning that Manjari reportedly forced her to draft a commitment later of Ksh 900 million to a private company.
On Tuesday, December 1, Juma claimed that he received death threats with unnamed individuals threatening him to sign off the tenders, failure to which he would be assassinated.
KEMSA officials Juma and Manjari and Eliud Muriithi were suspended to allow investigations into the scandal to be conducted by investigative agencies.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigated the theft of the Covid-19 billions where a total of 12 companies were allegedly awarded tenders worth Ksh3 billion to supply items that were not covered in the agency's budget as at June 4, 2020.
EACC also disclosed that it directed KEMSA to halt further payments related to Covid-19 until the investigations are completed.
