According to a report by Daily Nation on Sunday, February 16, SevenSeas CEO Michael Macharia told the Senate ad hoc committee on Managed Equipment Service (MES) programme that the company might be forced onto the route over the cancellation he termed as unfair.
He further argued that the Ministry of Health had seemingly purposed to award the tender to a foreign firm since a notification informing SevenSeas of the project’s cancellation had not been preceded by show cause letter.
“It is not our motivation to sue the government and get compensated but to deliver this project. But if push comes to shove, we will seek redress in courts because we feel our rights have been violated,” stated Macharia.
He went on to note that the termination procedure was faulty as it flouted the requirements of the contract and bypassed arbitration.
He further took an issue with Health PS Susan Mochache accusing her of denying him an audience and never visiting the project’s site for inspection.
“I believe that this contract was earmarked for someone else because of where we are,” he continued.
Health CS Sicily Kariuki was expected to appear before the committee last week but did not. She is set to appear before it on Monday, February 17.
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.
It was part of a pledge by President Uhuru Kenyatta aimed at enhancing the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda.
