Medical Services Principal Secretary nominee, Ouma Oluga, has proposed a corruption risk assessment at the Ministry of Health to deal with the chronic corruption.
While appearing before the National Assembly Health Committee, where he was vetted for suitability for office, Oluga outlined the measure as an urgent step in the fight against corruption.
“…on the governance perspective, I think it is time to do a corruption risk assessment of the Ministry of Health because we as a country have talked about the issue for so long…so we can know whether it (corruption) is real or is perceived,” stated Oluga.
He was responding to a question by the MP James Nyikal led committee which had sought his strategic plan in dealing with cartels at Afya House.
Oluga who disclosed his networth to be Sh196 million, also explained that the assessment would help expose the systemic weak points usually exploited by cartels in the ministry of health, and would aid in the implementation of a corruption prevention plan as part of addressing the problem.
“We have to do a corruption risk assessment and look at those weak points. The office of the Auditor General has been producing reports, they come to this parliament and we discuss them…. what are the systemic weaknesses?” he posed.
“I come from a background of solutions orientation, I don’t come from a background if discussing issues without solutions, I think we have to have an assessment because those cartels must be exploiting the weak points,” he remarked.
Adding; “More importantly, with that corruption assessment we must come up with a corruption prevention plan to work on those institutional and governance issues that enable cartels. The Cabinet Secretary has also pronounced himself on this issue…”
The former Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) secretary General further pledged to leverage on his background as a unionist to address some of the challenges in the Health sector.
“There is very little engagement at the facility and at the county level and that is one of the things that I believe we could strengthen through an inclusivity approach to establish answers to ensure that these CBA implementation committees work and to ensure there is a level of responsibility because not all issues require money. Much of the issues that come are already been put in the instruments of human resources for health,” he observed.
