The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, met with officials from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), led by CEO Dr. Philip Kirwa, to scrutinize audit queries raised by the Auditor-General for the financial years 2019/2020 to 2023/2024.
A key issue raised during the session was the irregular salary advances issued to medical interns, totalling Ksh 930,000.
The audit revealed that the advances were granted to interns who had been contracted for less than 12 months, in contravention of the hospital’s human resource policy.
Notably, Ksh 890,000 of the amount advanced had remained outstanding for more than a year, with no evidence of recovery efforts.
“The hospital might not recover the amount of Ksh 930,000 advanced to interns,” the Auditor-General’s report cautioned, noting the impact on the integrity of the Ksh 4.2 million total salary advance balance included in MTRH’s net debtors of Ksh 1.3 billion as of June 2020.
Why MTRH provided salary advance to interns
In response, Dr. Kirwa clarified that the interns are posted by the Ministry of Health, and due to delays in salary processing, the hospital offered salary advances to support their upkeep.
“Most of these are recovered before the interns complete their terms. However, in rare cases where interns fail to clear procedurally, we pursue recovery through the Ministry and county governments,” the CEO said.
He further assured the Committee that enhanced internal controls had since been put in place, especially at the clearance stage.
The Committee chaired by Navakholo constituency MP Emmanuel Wangwe also flagged anomalies in the hospital’s inventory records, with the financial statements as of June 2020 reflecting a stock balance of Ksh 356 million.
However, auditors noted that expired drugs valued at Ksh 4.5 million were included in the inventory, and some stocktake reports were unsigned.
“The accuracy of the inventory balance could not be confirmed,” the report noted.
Questions over expired drugs at MTRH
Responding to this, MTRH management stated that the flagged drugs had not expired at the time of the stocktake and that the unsigned report from Nyayo Pharmacy was due to an oversight.
“We have implemented stricter procedures to ensure full documentation in future stocktakes,” said Dr. Kirwa.
Committee members, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the explanations provided.
Vice-Chairperson Caleb Amisi said, “There’s something wrong, whether it’s people who were there before. Why don’t we call those who were responsible? This is pure theft.”
“The way these responses have been presented is too casual for such serious matters,” added nominated MP Jackson Kosgei.
In his closing remarks, the chairperson Wangwe advised MTRH to convene a session with the Auditor-General’s office, along with their procurement and finance teams, to harmonize their responses and address the audit concerns more substantively.
“We want to give you time to sit down and come back with solid answers that can help us close these matters,” he said.
