Andrew Kipkirui Rotich, the auditor who unearthed an alleged medical billing racket in Kenya’s public health systems, has lost his job at the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale fashioned the billing racket to police as an explosive dossier, and which led to the closure of 1,300 rogue facilities.
Mr Rotich and two other deputy directors – Reuben Mutwiri Mutuura (county coordination) and Halima Gurai Saney (provider management) have not been shortlisted for interviews following a court-ordered repeat of the recruitment exercise that saw them hired in April.
Andrew Rotich (middle), the outgoing Deputy Director for audit at the Social Health Authority (SHA), who led the uncovering of an alleged fraudulent medical billing scheme involving hospitals.
Photo credit: Pool
Mr Rotich is the deputy director, forensic audit and risk assurance.
The three, who were on April 17 appointed alongside CEO Mercy Mwangangi, are not among candidates shortlisted for interviews set to be conducted on October 1.
It is still unclear why the trio who applied for the jobs did not make the shortlist, despite having emerged as the best candidates in the first round of interviews preceding their appointments in April.
At the same time, Pariken Sankei, the director in charge of internal audit and Mr Rotich’s boss, could also be on his way out of SHA following a re-advertisement of his job. The deadline for applications for the Director, Internal audit vacancy closes on October 3 – two days after the deputy director candidates have been interviewed.
Dr Mwangangi’s known mobile phone number was switched off yesterday. A communications officer at SHA said the CEO is away.
SHA Board chairperson Abdi Mohamed did not pick calls or respond to text messages sent to his known mobile phone number.
The auditor was among the team leads in the group of auditors who unearthed a series of irregular claims, which were detailed in 1,188 files that the Health CS handed over to Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Mohammed Amin on September 2.
After presenting the dossier to the DCI, Mr Duale claimed fraudulent claims totaling Sh10.6 billion had been rejected.
Dr Mwangangi, and SHA Board chairperson were also present for the handover.
Neither the Ministry, nor SHA, has publicly revealed the amount suspected to have been lost in the fraudulent claims scheme stemming from the dossier that Mr Duale handed over to the DCI.
The DCI is yet to issue a public update on the status of investigations. However, the size of the files submitted to investigators and the amount of legwork required to physically verify that several health facilities claimed payment for services they did not offer suggests that the probe could take some time.
The saga started in late August, when the Ministry of Health uploaded payments made to thousands of facilities.
Social media users and traditional media houses started pointing out alleged anomalies in several payments made.
The Social Health Authority building in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
After some clarifications and responses, Mr Duale stated that there was an audit being conducted in relation to the payments. That culminated into the dossier compiled by Mr Rotich and his team, and which is now in the hands of the DCI.
Among the alleged incidents that Mr Rotich and his team helped uncover include that of Nabuala Hospital in Bungoma County, which allegedly claimed payment for multiple Caesarean sections it supposedly conducted on the same patient within days, alongside maternity claims which were not made with supporting documents.
“To strengthen accountability, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the creation of a multi-agency investigation team comprising officers from the DCI, Ministry of Health, Social Health Authority (SHA), Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), and the Digital Health Agency (DHA).
"The team will ensure all offenders – whether health facilities, providers or patients – face the full force of the law, while fast-tracking recovery of public funds and advancing the rollout of Universal Health Coverage (UHC),” the Ministry of Health said in a statement on September 2.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale during the launch of SHA-Taifa Care and Digital of Health Ecosystem in Eldoret City on September 10, 2025.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
Mr Rotich, Ms Saney and Mr Mutwiri were appointed to their SHA positions in a recruitment process that started on February 19. The recruitment had been limited to NHIF staff.
Mr Said Omar Abdille moved to court seeking to quash that exercise. He argued the recruitment process should have been open to the public. High Court judge Byram Ongaya agreed with Mr Abdille, and on July 10, ordered that a fresh process be conducted.
From the group of deputy directors appointed in April, only Mr Rotich, Ms Saney and Mr Mutwiri are missing from the shortlist of candidates to be interviewed in October.
The other deputy directors, who are shortlisted for the October interviews, are Martin Ayoo (ICT), Irene Akinyi Ng’onga (funds management), Francisca Mwanza (internal audit process and systems), Margaret Nyambura Macharia (benefits management), Phyllis Nyakiba (beneficiary management) and Douglas Odhiambo Owino (planning and linkages).
All three deputy directors had transitioned to SHA from its predecessor, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Mr Rotich had served as an auditor for over 21 years. Mr Mutwiri had over 20 years’ experience in the quality assurance departments of NHIF and SHA.
Ms Saney had joined the NHIF in 2016, also in the quality assurance department.
She is among former NHIF officials that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) trained its eyes on over an alleged fraudulent claims scheme by Beirut Pharmacy and Medical Centre in which Sh199 million was paid.
In the same EACC quarterly report released in March, the EACC also mentioned SHA’s deputy director for planning and linkages, Douglas Odhiambo Owino, in relation to the Sh199 million scandal.
The other officials mentioned were ex-NHIF CEO Peter Kamunya, former NHIF Eastleigh branch manager Amran Mohamed and KMPDC’s John Ireri.
