NHIF could be a case of negligence and greed.
In April Mr Danson Muchemi, the CEO of JamboPay signed a deal with Nairobi City County to automate payment of parking, rental, permit and land rates. Four months later, he controversially signed a deal to offer payment services to NHIF.
In both cases, the astronomical commissions — between four per cent and 4.5 per cent of collections — paid by the public entities raised the eyebrows of watchdogs, including Auditor-General Edward Ouko.
When the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) floated the tender for a revenue management system, many hoped that the leakages that had plagued the insurer’s ability to deliver seamless services to members would be sealed.
Internal documents however show that that was the beginning of what appears to have been a scheme to siphon off more than Sh1 billion from the health insurer, as the system that was advertised for was not delivered despite seven bidders being led on to the end of a dud procurement process by the NHIF management.
The management, led by then Chief Executive Officer Simeon Kirgotty, wanted to bring on Web Tribe Limited, which trades as JamboPay, to offer payment services to NHIF without going through a competitive process.
So after Web Tribe Limited was eventually picked to install an internally managed system, which would have cost between Sh400 million and Sh600 million, the contract it signed was for offering a payment solution to NHIF at a fee of between four and 4.5 percent of collections.That money would have supported maternal healthcare across the country and taken thousands of children suffering from terminal illnesses like cancer overseas for specialised treatment.
A report submitted to the NHIF Board last week showed an elaborate bait-and-switch scheme through which JamboPay received the money at the expense of more than six million contributors.
The documents indicate that JamboPay has received Sh864 million as commissions for payments made through banks alone.
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions is convinced NHIF opted for the more expensive leasing arrangement to perpetrate and camouflage fraud.
The current CEO Geoffrey Mwangi and his Finance Director Wilbert Kurgat have since been taken to court over the withholding of documents related to the transaction and are out on bond. They have also been suspended from their positions