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Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has asked the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to probe “a well connected syndicate of fraudsters stealing  drugs from public hospitals.”

This is after three suspects were arrested in Nairobi yesterday in a van full of stolen drugs.

Sakaja said the three are part of a criminal enterprise fleecing county medicine stores. He said the syndicate involved rogue county government officials and private chemists, some of whom use public ambulances to  cart away stolen drugs.

“Some ambulances leave medical facilities laden with drugs. These are later sold to private practitioners,” he said.

“I have had a discussion with the DCI and the police commander to crack down on this syndicate,” he said.

He recalled an incident where health service commodities were stolen from Lady Northey Hospital on Tuesday, February 21.  “This is part of a big syndicate perpetrating theft of over Sh244 million medicine and medical equipment, “ he said.

 Sakaja said it is disheartening for people to steal from the poor after the county government struggled to clear a long-standing debt of Sh185 million at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa).The county has already paid Sh80 million since 2020.

Speaking in Mombasa on the sidelines of an ongoing workshop with county officials, the governor said he would invest  in ICT to help in stock-taking at all 130 public hospitals in the county.                   – Harrison Kivisu