Probe on after millions NHIF funds allegedly embezzled in Meru County

The Meru County Assembly is investigating claims of misappropriation of NHIF funds for residents of the county by unscrupulous individuals working in cohorts with private hospitals in the county and in Nairobi.

The petitioner, Salesio Thuranira, estimates that tens of millions of shillings have been siphoned by these hospitals through the inflation of bills.

Citizen TV visited the residents of Meru, especially the elderly were ferried for treatment to these specific hospitals.

The family of the late Githinji is still coming to terms with his sudden demise. Three months have since passed since he was laid to rest, his death coming as a surprise to his family.

He died after undergoing a simple procedure at a facility in Nairobi.

But the bigger shocker for the family came with the bills. The deceased had been enrolled in the NHIF health cover and the family had anticipated that the insurance would take care of the bills that ran into hundreds of thousands

“Wwaliitisha 300 thousand yenye nhif ililipaa na wakaitisha pesa nyingine..hapo ndio tulishindwa,” his brother, Wilfred Karia, says.

This family is one of many from Meru County that are reeling from what is turning out to be a full-blown scandal targetting the poor ailing residents of this county who are subscribed to NHIF.

A resident of the county has moved to the county assembly seeking that they investigate this scandal that has seen patients lose hundreds of thousands through suspect deals struck between a cartel and select hospitals in Nairobi.

Patients who have fallen victim to the scandal say a group of people led by a woman and another only known as Dr Ken have been rounding patients up elderly patients who are enrolled for NHIF with the promise of getting them treatment in private hospitals in Meru and nairobi only for them to get messages of deducted funds for the meagre treatment.

Harriet Kagwiria is one such victim of this scandal. She claims she was admitted at one of the hospitals for treatment, the bill however, for the injections and pills she was given, did not match up.

Other victims Citizen TV spoke to shared the same experience.

“Niliwauliza hiyo shindano mbili na dawa ndio imetumia hiyo pesa yote,” one said. “Huku nairobi, kadri walkitumia elfu mia tatu, hakuna pesa ingine nilitumia wakati wa kuchnjwa waliniambia nilipe shilingi elfu kumi.”

“Hakuna matibio niliona...matibabu kama hiyo inalipishwa 130,000,” added another.

Thuranira says the scandal might run into millions of shillings.

“Ule wizi unaofanyika hapa, ulaghai ni kwamba tuchukue kamawaapelkea watu nisani moja, watu kama kumi, walaghaiwe kila mtu 300k watu kumi hiyo ni 3 million, uchunguzi nilionao ni kwamba walikwa wanapeleka nisan kama 10.”

The victims say they did not give consent before the money were deducted from their accounts.

Jekim Hospital, located in Nkubu is one of the hospitals suspected to have been part of this scheme...his hospital's x-ray facilities are believed to have been used to justify referrals to other hospitals.

The owner, Dr Kirimi, however, says he was unaware of the scheme and was in fact owed money by the executors of the fraud.

“Walikuwa na deni yangu ya Ksh.150,000 za picha, kila picha tulikuwa tunalipisha elfu tano, kwa hivyo ni wagonjwa wengi ndio wafikishe hiyo pesa.”

The Meru County Assembly is now seized of the matter and is in the process of probing the allegations with the aim of taking action against those accused.

The committee has already heard from the complainants.