A Clinix Healthcare clinic at the Nairobi West Hospital. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI
By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com and PETER OBUYA potieno@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, May 10 2012 at 22:30
Posted Thursday, May 10 2012 at 22:30
A city businessman was on Thursday sensationally exposed by MPs as the brains behind a controversial company in the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) scandal.
Dr Robert Monda, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, named Mr Jayesh Saini and said his team was doing everything possible to show the links between him and Clinix Healthcare, which received millions of shillings from NHIF’s public service scheme.
Mr Saini is a director of the Nairobi West Hospital and Gesto Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Read (Private clinics felt scheme was faulty)
Clinix is owned by another company, Pharma Investment Holdings, which is registered in a foreign tax haven.
The registrar says they have no records of the firm, which owns 99 per cent of Clinix’s shares.
One of the committee members said Mr Saini had been summoned to appear before it.
Clinix management, which failed to show up on Tuesday, is scheduled to appear on Monday next week.
The committee has threatened to take action against the directors if they do not attend the meeting.
Efforts by the committee to establish the directorship of Pharma Investment Holdings, the major shareholder in Clinix, did not bear fruit yesterday after the Registrar-General of Companies, Ms Bernice Gachegu, said records associated with the company were not available because it is registered in the British Virgin Islands, a secretive tax haven.
The committee, however, accused the registrar of frustrating efforts to unmask the people behind Pharma.
They accused her of failing to verify the authenticity of foreign companies before allowing them to have shareholding in local firms.
She was given seven days to produce the names of the directors.
Parliament, Dr Monda said, had powers to bring Mr Saini before the committee to disclose what he knows about the NHIF scheme.
State counsel Margaret Wangu named the directors of Clinix Healthcare as Mr Jiwan Dabral and Mr Antony C. Kalathil, according to records held by the registrar.
It also became clear on Thursday that Clinix Healthcare was registered in Kenya within 16 days of Pharma’s registration in BVI in 2006.
Pharma was registered on May 19, 2006 and on June 6, 2006, Clinix was registered in Kenya.
Clinix Healthcare Ltd was also licensed to operate a very wide range of other businesses, including power generation and supply of machinery, manufacturing, marketing, assembling, servicing, selling and distributing all types of telecommunication equipment, property management, leather manufacturing including import and export of the same.
It also licensed to run advertisement and public relations functions, stationery business, consultancy in computer services, tour and travel business as well as hotel and tourism businesses.
And on Thursday President Kibaki gazetted a new NHIF board. The board is to be chaired by Prof Mutuma Mugambi, who was appointed by Prime Minister Raila Odinga in consultation with the Office of the President to chair the caretaker committee.
Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua announced Thursday in his weekly press briefing that other members of the board are Titus Ndambuki (PS, Ministry of Public Service), Esther Koimett (PS, Ministry of Finance), Beatrice Kituyi (PS, Ministry of Labour), Mary Ngare (PS, Medical Services), Peter Ondieki (Inspector-General, State Corporations), and Stephen Kirogo ( Secretary, State Corporations Advisory Committee).
Also appointed by President Kibaki to sit on the new board as members for the next three months are Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli, Knut boss David Okuta, Jackline Mugo of the Federation of Kenya Employers and Tom Odege, the secretary-general of the Union of Kenya Civil Servants.
Apart from the exclusion of the suspended NHIF chief executive officer, Mr Richard Kerich, and the replacement of Knut chairman, Mr Wilson Sossion, with the secretary-general, Mr Okuta, the new board is mainly composed of former board members.
Ministry of Medical Services deputy secretary, Mr Adan A. Adan, who was appointed as the acting CEO, is not a member of the board.
Meridian Medical Centre, which is among health providers contracted by NHIF to provide services to civil servants, defended its allocation of Sh116.9 million.
Meridian Medical Center and Hospitals founder and CEO Dr P.N. Wambugu said their facilities won the tender through a competitive bidding.
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