The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives yesterday arrested Harun Liluma, a once-trusted employee of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC). Liluma, who had already been interdicted amid swirling allegations of graft, now stands at the epicenter of a burgeoning scandal that has siphoned millions from the Social Health Authority (SHA)—the government’s flagship health insurer designed to replace the scandal-plagued National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
Liluma’s detention, announced by the DCI in a terse statement on X (formerly Twitter), marks the first high-profile arrest in a crackdown that threatens to ensnare over 20 individuals and eight private health facilities accused of orchestrating a sophisticated fraud scheme. Set for arraignment today at the Milimani Law Courts, the interdicted KMPDC staffer faces a trio of grave charges: conspiracy to defraud, abuse of office, and computer fraud—offenses greenlit by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) after months of “painstaking investigations.” But as the gavel looms, questions mount: How did a mid-level bureaucrat allegedly unlock the gates to one of the largest heists in Kenya’s nascent health insurance system? And what does this say about the vulnerabilities in a program meant to shield millions from medical bankruptcy?
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