Inside NHIF battle to control billions

Allegations of attempted bribery to silence dissent within the beleaguered NHIF board sprung up on Friday on a day when the fallout over a Sh4 billion civil service health scheme intensified.

The claim followed another bombshell by Medical Services assistant minister Kambi Kazungu, who condemned minister Anyang’ Nyong’o and asked him to step aside to allow for a proper investigation.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions, which has a representative on the National Hospital Insurance Fund Board, claimed on Friday that secretary general Francis Atwoli and his personal assistant, Mr Adams Barasa, were approached by unnamed managers and representatives of certain clinics angling for contracts, in an attempt at bribery.

The motive, Mr Barasa said, was to push Mr Atwoli to drop his stance against NHIF’s push to increase the monthly employee contributions from the current Sh320 to a maximum of Sh2,000.

They also sought to silence him regarding the money allocated to medical service providers under contracts that have come under the spotlight this week.

Mr Kazungu, who is the Kaloleni MP, told the Saturday Nation that the “issue of NHIF is big and deep”.

The claims of impropriety from Mr Kazungu and Cotu, plus the declaration by the chairman of the board, Prof Richard Muga, that he won’t sit back and oversee “suspicious dealings” are the latest pieces in the puzzle over the controversy.

The genesis of Thursday’s embarrassing boardroom drama, according to Cotu, which is represented on the board by Mr Benson Okwaro, can be traced back to when the Fund’s management started ignoring the decisions of the board and instead implemented the decisions of the minister.

Central to the current controversy are revelations that some companies registered for the lucrative deal of providing medical insurance for civil servants received hundreds of millions against clinics that did not exist.

Addressing a news conference on Friday, the assistant minister said he was ready to help the parliamentary Committee on Health to unravel the mystery surrounding ownership of Clinix Healthcare Ltd, one of the key health providers at the centre of the controversy.

He criticised Prof Nyong’o for suspending Prof Muga, saying he should instead have addressed himself to the issues of concern and put the NHIF chief executive officer, Mr Richard Kerich, to task over the same. (READ: NHIF boss is sacked in day of high drama)

“I have talked to him (Nyong’o) and I have told him when it comes to corruption, I am not with him,” he said.

“We cannot steal from the poor and I am prepared to be sacked if that is what it takes to stand with the people.”

In an interview over the bribery claim, Mr Barasa described how he and his boss were asked to “accept chai (bribe) to look the other way” at Cotu’s Solidarity House headquarters in Nairobi’s Gikomba area.

“We were approached with millions. But we refused. People pocketed millions just to push these things through. Some in the board were compromised and colluded with the management to sidestep the decisions of the board,” said Mr Barasa, who insisted that he had “proof” of the attempted bribery.

Questions have been raised over the manner in which cash for the medical cover was released to some medical facilities that do not exist.

The Parliamentary Committee on Health has been investigating the scheme’s administration, including how two private clinics received the money under the scheme.

One of them, Clinix Healthcare, received Sh202 million compared to Kenyatta National Hospital that received a mere Sh1 million.

The parliamentary team has also concluded that Meridian were awarded Sh30 million for ghost facilities under the ambitious Sh4.2 billion healthcare scheme.

Mr Kazungu demanded that Mr Kerich explain how the contracted health providers were picked and how funds were authorised and released.

The clash between the assistant minister and Prof Nyong’o came a day after the country was treated to high drama after the Prof Muga sacked the CEO, who was immediately reinstated by Prof Nyong’o before the minister suspended the Board chairman.

On Friday, Mr Kazungu claimed he was sidelined in discussions that made decisions on the implementation of the scheme now in the spotlight over alleged irregularities in its roll-out.

“I have never been briefed on the NHIF issue, yet in the principle of collective responsibility, I am there as an assistant minister and not as a messenger,” he stated.

The Kaloleni MP said he was ready to quit as Prof Nyongo’s assistant, demanding that the minister and all who were involved in rolling out the contentious programme must step aside to pave the way for investigations.

“Let them all go home if possible, including the minister. They should step aside to give way for a probe,” he stated, adding that he would rather leave the ministry ‘than be part of a corrupt team.’

“The intention was wrong from the start. How can you sign agreements with non-existent facilities? The CEO must explain who authorised the monies,” he stated.

The assistant minister said he had raised his grievances with Prime Minister Raila Odinga whom he said, was in agreement that investigations must be conducted in the issue.

Mr Kerich, who was questioned by the committee, said out of the Sh600 million paid to the two institutions in the first quarter of the year, Sh318 million went to the two health providers.