Thursday, August 2, 2012

NHIF board defies court order in row


NHIF board defies court order in row

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By EDITH FORTUNATE efortunate@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Wednesday, August 1  2012 at  22:30
The National Hospital Insurance Fund caretaker board is scheduled to meet on Thursday in defiance of a court order suspending its members from office two weeks ago.
The team, which was appointed by President Kibaki to guide operations at the troubled NHIF, will discuss what it called “internal matters.”
Acting chief executive officer Adan Adan confirmed that the board would hold a special meeting and confirmed that it was still in place despite the High Court order.
“Yes, there is a meeting on Thursday (today) and we will be discussing internal matters. The board is still functioning until our term ends on August 15,” he said.
The meeting was initially scheduled to take place at a Nairobi hotel last Saturday but was postponed to Thursday.
According to a letter dated July 25, the board members will mainly discuss a report on the strategic review of NHIF by audit firm Deloitte and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.
The report is believed to have approved NHIF’s ability to utilise large sums of money.
On Monday, NHIF moved to court seeking to have an order suspending the court decision lifted.
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Its lawyer told High Court judge Weldon Korir that the orders were affecting the board’s operations and should be set aside.
Justice Korir had earlier ruled that President Kibaki broke the law when he appointed the interim board and subsequently suspended it.
Recently, Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko rejected a request by Medical Services minister Anyang’ Nyong’o to reinstate suspended NHIF chief executive Richard Kerich.
Mr Tobiko said there was an ongoing investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and police into the allegations of fraud and irregularities in a civil service medical scheme administered by the NHIF.
Later, Attorney General Githu Muigai appealed against the suspension of the caretaker board.
AG appeals
Prof Muigai said his office had applied for the file to be returned to court for a fresh hearing, arguing that President Kibaki acted within his mandate.
“Our Constitution states that the presidency should not be the topic of a civil case,” Prof Muigai said.
The President appointed the caretaker board on May 9. NHIF is accused of paying non-existent clinics millions of shillings for services rendered to the civil servants.
Civil servants contribute about Sh4.2 billion per year to the NHIF for the medical scheme.

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