The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has cancelled a Sh6.9 billion tender for insurance cover after it was discovered that the document had been irregularly altered.
The tender, which was meant to provide co-insurance and facultative insurance services for Group Personal Accident (GPA) and Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) for civil servants and National Youth Service staff, was exposed in a report by the Nation on June 8.
NHIF acting CEO Samson Kuhora thanked the paper for its vigilance and stated that the organization takes the matter seriously and is committed to correcting any lapses in procurement processes.
Dr Kuhora announced the cancellation of Tender No.
NHIF/035/2022-2023 in a notice posted on the NHIF website, along with several other tenders including those for insurance brokerage services, group life and final expense insurance services, emergency road evacuation services, endpoint solution and email security implementation, and actuarial services.
The alteration of Tender No.
NHIF/035/2022-2023 contravened the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (PPDA) of 2015, which makes it illegal to make changes to a tender document without attaching an addendum.
The amendment affected Part 4 of the tender on technical evaluation where parameters for evaluating lead co-insurer were changed.
After conducting an independent review of the changes made to the tender documents, NHIF engaged with the Insurance Regulatory Authority to advise on how best to proceed with this matter.
Dr Kuhora assured stakeholders that NHIF is committed to ensuring maximum transparency and integrity in all procurement processes going forward.
