The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has been ordered to recover millions paid as salary to 11 illegally hired employees as the government enhances its crackdown on graft.
While issuing the order, the National Assembly Committee on Health, on Tuesday, August 8, emphasised that the employees were unlawfully recruited to different positions at the organisation in September 2020.
Robert Pukose, the committee chair who also serves as Endebess Member of Parliament, added that the irregular recruitment has led to the misappropriation of taxpayers' money amidst the tough economic times.
"The loss is running into millions due to the irregular appointments. We have asked the NHIF to recover the money,' Pukose directed.
In June this year, Pukose directed NHIF to retain the accused employees who were facing job losses amid investigations into their unlawful recruitment.
The MP also barred the agency from hiring and transferring its staff. However, he allowed NHIF to recruit its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and senior management as planned.
Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha had ordered the nullification of the recruitment of the CEO to replace Peter Kamunyo, whose term expired in March this year.
In other related developments, the National Assembly Committee on Health also asked NHIF to halt the procurement of a Ksh4.2 billion Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to replace an already existing and similar platform that cost the agency Ksh1.6 billion.
An ERP system is software used by organisations to manage key parts of operations, including accounting and resource management. At the NHIF, the system is used to store the data comprising Kenyans subscribed to the fund, existing medical facilities, and human resource statistics.
Despite Acting NHIF Chief Executive Officer Samson Kuhora explaining that the new version was crucial in the agency's operations, Pukose disclosed plans by the MPs to meet the ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui and the service provider to shed light on loopholes in the current system and whether a new one was much-needed.
Kuhora also lamented that the ineffectiveness of the current system affected the quality of its service delivery countrywide.
"They cannot even tell us what is missing in the current system that is forcing them to procure a new system that will only overburden the taxpayer," the MP stated.
Tanui and the service provider will assess the current system and advise the committee on its effectiveness and whether the multi-million revamp was necessary.
The committee further grilled NHIF bosses following an exposé that revealed how funds were wrongly disbursed to specific hospitals across the country in a well-coordinated scheme that disadvantaged other facilities.
Pukose disclosed that at least 67 hospitals were involved in the multi-billion scam.
"When you look at some of the facilities, one got Ksh29 million in 2021 but steadily increased to hundred of millions within a short period. What was happening in these facilities?" he posed.
He assured that individuals found culpable will face prosecution for misappropriating public funds. Health CS Nakhumicha, in June this year, suspended top NHIF bosses accused of minting millions of shillings through rogue hospitals.
