NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 23, 2025 — Social Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mercy Mwangangi was on Thursday grilled by Members of Parliament over exorbitant legal fees amounting to Ksh.77 million, paid to recover a Ksh.13 million debt during the 2020/2021 financial year.
The issue came under scrutiny before the Public Investments Committee (PIC), chaired by Emmanuel Wangwe, which raised concerns over the questionable expenditure by the now-defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
According to documents tabled before the committee, three law firms were contracted to recover the debt but ended up receiving six times the value of the actual claim they were pursuing.
“Would you confirm whether you responded to all the audit processes? Because I am reliably informed that you didn’t even respond to management letters that were sent to you,” PIC Chair Emmanuel Wangwe questioned.
PIC Vice Chair Caleb Amisi pressed Dr. Mwangangi to take personal responsibility, despite her insistence that the payments were made before the transition from NHIF to SHA.
“We are not in that institution. We are looking at you. Kenyans know you; they don’t know who left the institution. Being new is not an escape from accountability. So, who prepared this?” Amisi demanded.
Dr. Mwangangi told the committee that she would submit a comprehensive report within three weeks, explaining the circumstances surrounding the expenditure and the failure to respond to audit queries at the time.
“We have been working on developing these responses, and we will have to go back and check why those responses were not done by the NHIF team then,” she said.
The EACC and Auditor General’s Office had flagged the matter earlier, questioning the NHIF’s Ksh.247 million expenditure on legal fees during the same financial year.
SHA Chief Financial Officer Robert Ingasira confirmed that the information before the committee was compiled from both NHIF and SHA records.
“The documents and information provided here are what we have collected from the NHIF and now the SHA. It’s unfortunate it was not given to the Auditor General then,” said Ingasira.
Dr. Mwangangi defended her administration, saying that significant reforms have been introduced under SHA to enhance transparency and accountability in health financing.
“If you look at the issues raised by the Auditor General, the current SHA benefit package is itemised unit by unit and gazetted by law, with tariffs available to the public,” she explained.
During the session, MPs also called for amendments to the Social Health Insurance Act, citing public complaints about restrictions on surgical benefits.
“Somebody has an operation today and in six months comes back for another one but is stopped by law. That’s why we are here — to amend it. Kenyans are feeling this issue of one-off surgery,” Wangwe noted.
Dr. Mwangangi responded that improvements can be made through the Health Benefits Advisory Panel, which reviews public feedback and adjusts packages based on disease burden and available funding.
Despite the grilling, Dr. Mwangangi maintained that SHA is performing far better than NHIF, calling on legislators to help educate Kenyans on the new system and encourage mass registration.
“SHA is far better than NHIF in all aspects,” she said. “We are building a system that ensures efficiency, transparency, and equitable access to healthcare.”
