The Social Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Mwangangi, has broken her silence after several unsuspecting Kenyans were scammed by people pretending to be SHA agents.
This follows reports that some Kenyans had been defrauded by individuals impersonating SHA employees and offering to help with registration or speed up SHA services in exchange for a fee.
In a statement on Friday, November 7, Mwangangi, who has led the Authority for seven months, urged fraud victims to report the matter to their local police station.
According to her, neither does the Authority's staff ask for money to offer service nor request a mobile money wallet PIN. "SHA registration is free. Do not pay anyone who claims to help you register or update your details," she stated.
"If you or someone you know has been affected, we urge you to report the incident immediately to the police and to SHA through our official toll-free line 147," Mwangangi added.
SHA Self-Registration
While addressing the issue, the SHA CEO encouraged Kenyans to prioritise self-registration, insisting that it was the safest way to avoid getting scammed by fake SHA staff.
Kenyans seeking to undertake self-registration were advised to use the USSD Code by clicking 147 and the hash sign or through the Authority's website, afyayangu.go.ke or sha.go.ke.
Similarly, for assisted registration, members of the public were advised to only seek assistance from authorised SHA offices like Huduma centres or through the help of verified community health promoters.
"Never share your PIN or hand over your mobile phone to anyone claiming to assist you with registration. Payments for SHA contributions are made only through Business Number: 200222," Mwangangi announced.
"Official SHA outreach or registration drives are always announced through official SHA channels, local authorities, and local media. If anyone approaches you claiming to represent SHA and asks for money or to assist with registration, do not engage them," she added.
Mwangangi's clarification comes just a week after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested four people for allegedly scamming a SHA user Ksh251,000.
According to detectives, the man was scammed after the fraudsters convinced him to surrender his mobile phone under the pretext of 'completing the registration process.'
Moments later, his phone suddenly went off, and attempts to restore service were futile and upon sensing trouble, he rushed to his Sacco only to be hit with the devastating news that his account had been wiped clean.
In a swift move, Law Enforcement Officers from Marimanti launched an operation that led to the arrest of the four suspects.
