Suspended Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) chief executive officer Terry Ramadhani has been ordered to pay an accountant Sh1.5 million for an illegal transfer to Mombasa last year after questioning a payment to a law firm.
Justice Stella Rutto directed Ms Ramadhani, who was suspended in May by President William Ruto, to pay Christine Mwangi the money after ruling she was penalised for performing her duty.
Ms Mwangi moved to court in December after she was moved from Nairobi to Mombasa in October last year and directed to report to a junior officer after the payment that she said was not meeting Kemsa’s code.
“What manifests from the foregoing memo is that the concerns raised by the petitioner were valid and not far-fetched. Given the timing of the petitioner’s transfer, I am made to conclude that it is highly probable that the same was effected when she raised discrepancies touching on the documents supporting payments to the firm,” the judge said.
Ms Ramadhani was suspended over the bungled Sh3.7 billion tender for the supply of treated mosquito nets for low-income households.
Before she was transferred, she had been directed to process a payment of Sh8.7 million to a city law firm for legal services rendered to Kemsa.
Her transfer violated the Constitution as well as Kemsa Act, Ms Mwangi argued, further accusing the CEO of altering the minutes and letter to circumvent the legal requirements authorising instructions for payments.
Ms Mwangi also said she was transferred to where there was no accounting work to get rid of her from the head office and effectively ensure she could not carry out her role as an accountant.
