The National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) has warned Kenyans against fraudsters posing as members of the Authority and extorting money as institutions race to gain accreditation under the new health scheme, the Social Health Authority (SHA).
This is after it emerged that individuals were posing as NACADA officials to defraud health institutions, offering help in obtaining NACADA accreditation and SHA recognition.
“It has come to our attention that some individuals are posing as NACADA staff members and contacting rehabilitation center owners, claiming to offer assistance in obtaining NACADA accreditation and recognition by the State Health Authority (SHA) or Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) in exchange for money,” NACADA announced in a statement.
In the statement posted on their X account, NACADA sought to clarify its procedure regarding the provision of accreditation and recognition services.
“NACADA does not charge or solicit money for accreditation or recognition services. Accreditation by NACADA follows a transparent and formal process, and all legitimate communications are done through official NACADA channels,” the Authority stated.
The Authority further urged health institutions and Kenyans to dismiss the fraudulent individuals and report them to the police. “Any claims made by this individual are fraudulent and should be disregarded,” NACADA stated.
In so doing, NACADA issued a three-pronged procedure to Kenyans on what to do when approached by fraudsters. In its notice to the public, NACADA advised the public not to send any money, report the matter to the Authority via its hotline: 1192, or report to the nearest police station.
The new development came after the SHA rollout, which required rehabilitation centers in the country to acquire fresh NACADA accreditation and become SHA-recognized facilities. Consequently, NACADA announced an online registration drive to incorporate such facilities into its database. The registration process was set to end on Friday last week.
Aside from the SHA recognition, prevention, treatment, and recovery professionals registered by NACADA would benefit from access to information on training, job vacancies, conferences, and other opportunities. In addition, they would get increased involvement in prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives in Kenya.
In early November, the Ministry of Health announced that they had recorded SHA services worth Ksh1.5 billion in the one month since its rollout. Of this amount, Ksh103 million went to mental wellness and rehabilitation services.
Under the mental wellness benefits package of SHIF, rehabilitation for substance-related addictive disorders is catered for. Under this section
, detoxification is set at Ksh14,000, and rehabilitation is set at Ksh125,000.
