Eight Health Officials Suspended In Kenya Over Graft

By Samuel Ouma

Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha, suspended eight National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) hospital branch administrators on Monday, June 19, accusing them of adopting deceptive tactics to defraud gullible Kenyans.

Nakhumicha criticized cartels for collaborating with branch managers to carry out the scam.

During her press conference, she directed the NHIF board to investigate the alleged fraud and submit a preliminary report to her desk within 48 hours.

She also invited the whistleblower to come forward with information about the syndicate.

“I met with the NHIF board chair and instructed him to commence investigations, including inviting the whistleblower to share details regarding this heartless and ruthless cartel,” said CS Nakhumicha.

Nakhumicha appealed to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to work with the NHIF board to investigate how the cartels were able to extract monies from NHIF and sick Kenyans.

Nakhumicha also asked the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to immediately launch investigations into the six medical facilities implicated in the incident and complete the inquiries within 48 hours.

The NHIF is said to have lost billions of shillings due to false claims. The expose claims that many private hospitals in Nairobi and Meru Counties are part of an extensive scheme working with unethical NHIF workers to defraud unwary residents and the government of healthcare cash.