The Social Health Authority (SHA) will begin fencing a 10-hectare parcel of land in Nairobi’s Karen area, even as an ownership dispute over the property continues to drag through the courts.
The land, valued at nearly Ksh298 million, was inherited from the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and was initially earmarked for a multi-billion-shilling development project before the Authority replaced the Fund.
Appearing before the Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture (PIC-SSAA) on October 22, SHA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mercy Mwangangi said the Authority had secured a budget of Sh50 million for fencing the disputed property. The session, chaired by Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe, examined audit reports for the 2021/2022 and 2023/2024 financial years.
According to the Auditor-General’s latest report, the land remains under legal contest despite the Fund holding the original title documents. “The ownership of this parcel of land is in dispute and the matter is in Court,” Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu stated in her report. The case, which began in 2011, has involved both the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), but ownership remains unresolved.
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Dr. Mwangangi told the committee that SHA has taken practical steps to reclaim the property, noting that investigations are still active. “DCI requested NHIF to surrender the original titles for purposes of investigation. The current status of the matter indicates that the criminal matter is still ongoing,” she said.
However, MPs were alarmed by revelations that SHA spent Ksh91 million in legal fees to recover only Ksh13.9 million, creating an unexplained variance of Ksh77.6 million. The Auditor-General’s report questioned the expenditure, noting that it was contrary to schedule 6(1)(b) of the advocates’ remuneration guidelines.
The audit also highlighted concerns over the ballooning cost of a multi-storey car park project, whose value rose from an initial Ksh909 million to Ksh3 billion. Parliament had earlier directed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to expedite investigations into the project and take action against any officials found culpable of procurement irregularities.
Despite repeated recommendations, the Auditor-General noted that as of March 2023, no progress report had been received from the EACC. SHA’s leadership attributed the delay to ongoing investigations, indicating that the matter now lies within the purview of the ethics agency, which has already requested original documents and statements from the Fund’s officials.
By Benedict Aoya
