From the 2021-2022 Financial Year, KMPDC will receive funding from the National Treasury for the very first time in over four decades.
This is after the Council was categorized by the government as a semi-autonomous government agency (SAGA). According to the KMPDC Finance Manger CPA Phillip Ole Kamwaro, the revenue model will make the regulator financially stable, enabling the organization to focus on its core mandate including regular inspections of health facilities, medical and dental schools and internship training centers in the country. The Council will further strengthen its inspections of health facilities and step up systems in determining cases of alleged medical malpractice all over Kenya.
“The funding from Treasury couldn’t have come at a better time. The government has already rolled out Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and KMPDC plays a critical role in UHC,” said Kamwaro. “As we speak now, the State Corporations Advisory Committee has already ratified the KMPDC organizational structure and we are now awaiting its approval.”
The Finance Manager further says that the government funding will accelerate the rate at which the Council plans to implement technology based regulatory services to enhance efficiency and access of services by clients. “We generate revenue from the fees we levy.
The model does not generate enough revenues needed for KMPDC’s optimal performance and at the right time required,” Kamwaro explains. For optimal regulatory services, Kamwaro opines, there is need to devolve KMPDC services as directed by the Senate to the Counties.
“We are planning to have eight devolved KMPDC units; this will help us appropriately cover the entire country,” he reveals. All the eight offices will “require funding for operation, to buy furniture, equipment, vehicles and even salaries.” The existing revenue falls short of the sum required to finance such operations.
Among other things, Kamwaro foresees smooth operations at the Council in the future. He says the government funding will enable KMPDC meet financial obligations including procuring an enterprise resources management system.
“We are planning to embark on cost-cutting strategies. With enough income from the National Treasury, we foresee a time when KMPDC will accumulate a reserve fund to cater for any eventualities/risks,” the Finance Manager says. Kamwaro, who says the Council has cleared all pending bills, adds that the new revenue model will come with additional requirements on financial reporting.
“But we are equal to the task,” he says. According to the State Corporations Act, “no state corporation shall, without the prior approval in writing of the Minister and the Treasury, incur any expenditure for which provision has not been made in an annual estimate.”
The Act also requires every state corporation to keep “proper books recording all the property, undertakings, funds, activities, contracts, transactions and other business of the state corporation.”
However, funding from government comes with new requirements. The Council has already ceased collecting fees from all public health facilities. This will account for 60% drop in the income. “The government has scrapped the fees public health facilities have been paying including inspection and license fees. KMPDC will, however, still continue offering services to the institutions,” revealed Kamwaro.
He however adds that the Council will continue collecting fees from private health facilities as well as fees from medical and dental practitioners and community oral health officers.
