Former NHIF CEOs, 16 others charged over Ksh.1.5B scandal

Eighteen suspects among them former National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) CEOs Geoffrey Mwangi and Simon Kirgotty were Monday charged over alleged loss of Ksh.1.5 billion at the health insurer.

Appearing before anti-corruption court Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti, the accused were charged with 17 counts among them abuse of office, willful failure to comply with the law relating to management of public funds among others.

Mr. Kirgoty and Mr. Mwangi were charged with seven and six counts respectively, all of which they denied and were released on a cash bail of Ksh.2 million each.

The court also directed the suspects to surrender their travel documents and also barred them from contacting witnesses except under permission from the investigating officers.

All NHIF officials charged in the case were also barred from accessing their office, but JamboPay was allowed since the revenue collection system it manages would collapse if they are shut out at NHIF.

Some of the suspects were released on a cash bail of Ksh.1 million and others Ksh.300,000.

Also charged was Web Tribe Limited, which trades as JamboPay, and its directors Danson Muchemi and Robert Muriithi.  The company was allegedly contracted to offer revenue collection services to NHIF without proper planning leading to loss of millions of public funds.

Members of the NHIF audit committee Mudzo Nzili, Yussuf Ibrahim and Elly Nyaim were also charged with breach of trust for approving extension of the contract awarded to Web Tribe Limited.

The case will be mentioned on January 29, 2019