President William Ruto personally ordered for the suspension of the Social Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executive Officer Elijah Wachira after he refused to pay pending bills to hospitals and instead opted to release money to two insurance firms.

Sources say Ruto had questioned the delayed settlement of the money owed to hospitals even though it was available, only to be told that Wachira had refused to act.

When asked why he had not released Sh1.5 billion as directed by the authority’s board, Wachira said he was waiting for authorisation from the Ministry of Health.

Upon inquiry however, Ruto was informed by the Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Mlongo that the said letter had indeed been issued two weeks ago.

It was established later that Wachira paid Sh1.5 billion to the two companies against the directives of the Board.

“The Head of State, shocked by the revelations, ordered the board to act and suspend the CEO and also open a probe over the matter,” said a source privy of the events at SHA headquarters.

Wachira is said to have attempted to prevail upon the two insurance firms to refund the money to no avail. Wachira had been viewed as a saboteur to the recently-introduced health scheme even before the money payments emerged.

For some time, he was on the government’s radar over suspicions that he was not fully committed to the transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to SHA and that he may have been behind some of the challenges that have dogged the scheme.

“The feeling had been that while Wachira made public pronouncements pushing for SHA, inside his heart, he was quietly praying for the retention of NHIF, which he had been managing,” a source in the authority told People Daily.

An opportunity is said to have arisen when Wachira allegedly made the Sh1.3 billion payment between late last month and last week to some of the SHA and NHIF service providers who were not part of the hospitals that had declined to treat patients until the government cleared the money owed to them.

The Sh1.3 billion was part of the Sh3 billion that the president announced during Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kwale Stadium that the government had released to settle outstanding payments owed to healthcare providers. Making the announcement, Ruto said the allocation was aimed to support healthcare providers as the government transitions to SHIF.

Second boss

Immediately after the money landed in the SHA accounts, Wachira is reported to have embarked on payments without the knowledge of either the board or its chairman Abdi Mohamed, a matter that seemed to have provided his detractors a platform to send him packing.

Wachira is the second high-ranking SHA official to be shown the door after its pioneer chairman Dr Timothy Olweny was removed in September.

On Tuesday, a terse statement from Mohamed indicated that the board had replaced Wachira with Robert Ingasira, formerly the Financial Services Director.

“This is to inform you of the resolution of the board to send you on compulsory leave effective immediately for 90 days to allow for further investigations into your professional conduct and performance as Acting Chief Executive officer of the Social Health Authority,” read the memo.

Mohamed said that while on leave, Wachira will be entitled to all his current remuneration and benefits. The board partly attributed Wachira’s suspension to the challenges facing the transition from NHIF to SHIF.

According to the minutes from Tuesday’s board meeting, the SHA leadership expressed concerns over rising unpaid bills, which have led hospitals to require cash payments from patients.

“It therefore comes as a concern when the Acting CEO, Elijah Wachira takes actions that not only go against this effort but put the delivery of healthcare services at risk despite the government’s best effort,” the board statement read.

Sources say that in his defence, Wachira is said to have tabled documents indicating the facilities he paid and reasons for the payments, but the board still questioned why he took the decision unilaterally.

Procedurally, the CEO is not supposed to make unilateral decisions to make payments of amounts of money exceeding Sh50 million without either the authority of the board or the chairman’s consent.

The payment aside, the board is also said to have accused Wachira of allegedly inciting members of the defunct NHIF not to offer services to SHA until the government officially transferred them to the new entity. Sources say that it may have been what prompted President Ruto to assure them during the Mashujaa Day address.