A daring night operation by police in Kitui has unearthed a suspected medical supplies theft cartel after a Subaru driver was arrested and his vehicle impounded during a dramatic raid linked to stolen hospital drugs.
According to OB 58/30/10/2025, which Channel 15 News has obtained, police launched the sting after a signal alert warned that boxes of gloves and other medical supplies were being stored inside the home of a county health worker in Slay Slay Estate, Kitui Town.
When officers stormed the premises, the female suspect — a staffer at the hospital’s drug dispensing unit — had already fled, leaving behind suspicious cartons of supplies. Her husband, found at the scene, slipped away moments later.
Minutes after, a Subaru vehicle arrived at the house, and the driver began loading the cartons of gloves and other medical supplies into the car. Police moved in swiftly, arresting the man and impounding the vehicle before the supplies could be moved.
Sources told Channel 15 News that the runaway health worker is believed to be a central figure in a broader syndicate diverting hospital drugs to private buyers — a network allegedly aided by influential county insiders.
Speaking to Channel 15 News by phone, Kitui Central OCS Musa confirmed the arrest, saying:
“Yes, one suspect is in custody in relation to the incident. Investigations are ongoing, and a detailed report will follow after the spot check.”
Meanwhile, Kitui County Chief Officer for Drugs and Medical Supplies, Aggrey Kinyalili Kamba, confirmed that administrative investigations have begun to determine how the stolen items were moved out of the hospital unnoticed.
“We have commenced an internal audit to establish how the medical supplies left the facility,” Kamba said.
In a stunning revelation, Channel 15 News has learned that the hospital’s CCTV surveillance cameras have been off for at least three months, leaving no video evidence of the theft.
During a recent inspection, the Senate Health Committee had flagged the CCTV failure and weak inventory control, warning that the situation was “a ticking time bomb for theft and loss of public resources.”
The scandal has exploded just days after the Kitui County Ministry of Health received a KSh 69.7 million consignment of drugs and medical supplies from the Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), meant to restock hospitals across the county.
Residents and health workers have since expressed outrage, saying the theft reflects deep-seated corruption and negligence within the county’s health department — even as patients continue to suffer drug shortages in public hospitals.
Police have now intensified the manhunt for the female suspect still on the run, as detectives piece together what is shaping up to be Kitui’s biggest medical theft scandal in recent years.
