Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM) is established under Section 3(1) of the Supplies Practitioners Management Act, 2007 (the SPMA) to inter alia, register, license all supplies practitioners in Kenya and to regulate their practice.
The KISM Council’s attention has been drawn to the Media Statement issued by the Kenya Medical Supplies Association (KEMSA) Board on the impending reforms to strengthen Universal Health Coverage.
KEMSA is a Supply Chain Management (SCM) Organization mandated to undertake roles and responsibilities to ensure supply chain excellence for Health Products and Technologies. The KISM Council is fully aware of the financial, supply chain and procurement, warehouse and distribution challenges facing KEMSA, which have severely affected the Institution’s effectiveness in fulfilling its mandate.
As the umbrella body for Supplies Practitioners with statutory powers, KISM welcomes efforts to transform KEMSA into an effective public body. A functional KEMSA will always be a good showcase of supply chain management excellence. While we welcome the ongoing reforms, we wish to petition the Board to engage all stakeholders, particularly KISM. We are the custodians and regulators of Supply Chain Management practitioners and are at hand to provide the necessary technical support towards transforming KEMSA.
Further, as the Regulator of the SCM Profession in Kenya, we note that all the staff sent home from the warehouse and the procurement departments are Members of KISM. We want to be involved in decisions and investigations involving our members with a view of subjecting them to our internal disciplinary mechanisms, where applicable. We would also like to know the criteria used to decide who leaves and who remains at the Institution and advocate for a systematic, structured, transparent and equitable process There will be a need to revisit the goals and objectives of KEMSA to determine the optimal structure consisting of the appropriate supply chain management competencies that are responsive to the complex, ambiguous, volatile and uncertain business environment in which we are all operating. We also note that Development Partners and Local Procurement experts, some of whom are members of our Institute and the international professional organizations, have been working closely with the KEMSA Reforms Teams. Therefore, it would be essential to ensure concerted efforts on building SCM capacity and capability to implement these reforms, both at the Staff and Board levels.
The KISM council is ready to offer any support to this end, taking cognizance of the critical role of supply chain management in achieving Universal Health Coverage, Sustainable Goal number 3 and our country’s Vision 2030. Our considered counsel is that a drastic and emotional approach to this may not achieve these desired goals, particularly in the absence of competent stakeholders in the reforms committee.
At KISM, stand on the side of professionalism and integrity in Supply Chain Management and commit to partner with the KEMSA Board and Management in providing technical assistance, expertise and capacity building for the correct size SCM Organization that will enable the Institution to deliver its mandate.
