NHIF Scandal Probe: Parliamentary Health Committee Safeguards Jobs of Implicated Officers
On Tuesday, June 27, the Parliamentary Health Committee directed certain National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) officers. To retain their positions as investigations into a multibillion-dollar scandal continued.
The committee, led by its chair and Endebess member of parliament Robert Pukose. Explained that it was not permitted to deploy, dismiss, or transfer certain officers while investigations were ongoing.
“Typically, when such investigations are initiated, the ministry transfers the officers to frustrate the committee.
“We can resurrect even those who have been relocated to other regions. We intend to maintain the status quo of these officers until the conclusion of the investigation so that operations can continue without interruption, said Pukose.
However, the committee emphasized that the recruitment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and senior management should proceed as scheduled.
“We will still hold other officers accountable,” the lawmaker added, claiming that the employees were complicit in the theft of national funds.
In the media-revealed scandal, the Committee determined that several private hospitals illegally received more funds from the pot than public hospitals, with some hospitals fabricating the types of surgeries they performed.
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“As a committee, we cannot ignore the misappropriation of public funds within the NHIF. “A public inquiry is the only way to discover the truth behind the crisis,” the chairperson added.
The fifteen-member committee is also expected to investigate the preferential treatment given to privately-owned healthcare facilities over public health institutions.
Furthermore, Mogotio MP Reuben Kiborek argued that. To achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), it was necessary to streamline the NHIF board of management and directors.
In response to the exposé, on June 19 Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha suspended eight NHIF managers suspected of participating in the cartels defrauding the fund.
“I have made a special request to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to work with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to investigate how these cartels siphon funds. This report should be available within seven days,” the CS added.
Some of the hospitals linked in the scandal were Jekim Medical Centre in Meru Central, St Peters Orthopaedic and Surgical Hospital in Kiambu County, Afya Bora Hospital in Mwea, Kirinyaga, Joy Nursing and Maternity Hospital in Malewa Street, Kamukunji, Afya Bora Hospital Annex in Wanguru in Mwea, Jekim Hospital in Nkupu Imenti South, Beirut Pharmacy and Medical Centre and Amal Hospital Limited in Nairobi.
In addition, she demanded that all NHIF employees undergo a lifestyle audit to explain their wealth.
NHIF Scandal Probe: Parliamentary Health Committee Safeguards Jobs of Implicated Officers
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