Vetting reveals 21 NHIF managers, staff hold forged KCSE certificates

NHIF CEO Elijah Wachira. [File, Standard]

As the Ministry of Health gears towards transitioning health schemes to fit Kenya Kwanza administration’s health agenda, the issue of fraud in employment at the current scheme has emerged.

A senior source at the Ministry has hinted to The Standard that the ongoing clean-up exercise at National Health Insurance has revealed that a number of employees hold fake certificates.

21 employees at the fund, according to the source, allegedly forged their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificates, with discrepancies emerging in over 50 certificates.

Holders of the certificates are middle level managers and staff.

"Certificate verification for Diploma, Masters and Degree is almost finalised, and it is expected that they will be more fake certificates," said the official.

According to the source, evaluation of employees has been ongoing, in preparation for transitioning several employees to the Social Health Authority (SHA).

“It has come to our attention that a number of certificates by current employees at NHIF are fake. The evaluation exercise is meant to enable us to have the right people at SHA,” said the senior employee.

The employees, he added, are mostly relatives of senior people in the government, including politicians.

Due to interests, he revealed, reforming the fund has been a challenge because the employees are protected, despite not being qualified to run it.

“NHIF staff were largely brought by politicians, with a number being children of politicians...This is why bringing changes to the fund is a big problem.

The ongoing verification is a process being conducted to clean up Human Resource in NHIF, in readiness for SHA launch," cited the source.

Launch of service access and contributions is scheduled for October 1, 2024.

Health PS for Medical Services, Harry Kimtai, told The Standard in a recent interview that NHIF will be folded for good on November 22, 2024.

Before hiring of new staff at SHA, according to the source, there will be verification of their qualification.

“Certificates of employees at NHIF shall be checked, have them verified. This is a cleaning exercise that should be concluded,” added the source.

The fund has about 1,800 employees nationally.

The source added that there are additional 10 employees on the chopping board for serious fraud issues as they are on interdiction.

Currently, the fund is undergoing serious staff disciplinary issues, which has led to five employees being summarily dismissed for gross misconduct.

Recently, during the vetting of Doborah Barasa chaired by the National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula, the question on the state of employees of NHIF was raised.

The MPs wanted to know how Barasa would handle the employees amid transition plans to the new scheme.

Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei interrupted Barasa’s response on NHIF’s human resources, expressing concerns about potential future debates.

“All NHIF employees will be reassessed and, if suitable, absorbed. Some have skills that don’t match their current roles,” Shollei stated, adding that some are ‘mechanics’

On July 30, while appearing before the National Assembly Committee of health chaired by Robert Pukose, SHA Chairperson, Dr Timothy Olweny, admitted that SHA does not have employees, but operates under a transition committee.

“All operations are under SHA. At the moment, everything is done by SHA for seamless transition,” he said.

Olweny also explained to the committee that the Attorney General gave an advisory that shifted the obligation of NHIF staff to the board, including salaries.

After full transition in November, Olweny added, NHIF employees who will not move to SHA will be deployed elsewhere by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

On his part, Medical Services PS, Harry Kimtai, told the committee that SHA is awaiting approval of human resource instruments by PSC and State Corporation Advisory Committee to identify positions needed, which would be competitively filled.

“In the provisions, the staff of the fund are eligible to apply for the positions advertised by the authority and may be considered for appointment where they are suitably qualified for the positions,” said Kimtai.

The other option for the employee is to take an early retirement package which will be handled by a team drawn from Ministry of Health, Public Service Commission and NHIF.

During the meeting, NHIF CEO Elijah Wachira, on his part, assured a smooth transition process and applauded and defended the fund's employees, saying they are dedicated at work.