Auditor questions NHIF’s Sh38 million seminars payment

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) spent millions of taxpayers' cash on seminars and conferences without supporting documents, an audit report Parliament is examining shows.

The financial report for the year ended June 2018 signed by former Auditor-General Edward Ouko questioned Sh38 million expenditure recorded as 'board expenses, seminars and conferences' without supporting evidence.

Out of the amount, Sh993,220 was paid to two board members as per diem after one of them attended a devolution conference in Kakamega and another one the Mombasa ASK Show.

Documents before the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee also indicate that the NHIF spent Sh13.1 million on seminars and conferences.

According to Mr Ouko's report, further expenditure on the seminars and conference includes Sh3.9m recorded as "transfer to provisions".

The NHIF said the amount was imprest issued for board expenses "but was wrongly labelled as transfer to provisions".

Mr Ouko said the NHIF did not provide any evidence to support the claim.

"Although the management has explained that these are imprest issued for board expenses and wrongly described as transfers to provisions, no evidence was availed (sic) to support this claim," reads the audit report.

The NHIF further paid Sh4.6 million to Harvard Business School for the training of two of its board members.

The audit report, however, indicates that the NHIF did not provide board approval for the training of the two officers for audit verification as required by law.

The auditor also questioned why the training of the two board members could not be done locally to save taxpayers the millions used abroad as training fees.