Former SHA CEO Released on Ksh500,000 Bail In Multi Million Fraud Case

Former Acting CEO of the Social Health Authority (SHA), Robert Ingasira, and four others have been released on bail of Ksh 500,000 each in connection with a Ksh 17.5 million fraud case.

The five appeared in court on Thursday, October 30, facing accusations of conspiring to swindle the Authority through fake medical claims.

All the accused — including senior officials of a private medical clinic — denied the charges, pleading not guilty to multiple counts of abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud.

Former SHA acting CEO Robert Ingasira, among other co-accused, arraigned in court in Nairobi on October 30, 2025. /THE TIMES KENYA

The ten charges they faced include conspiracy to defraud under Section 317 of the Penal Code, misappropriation of funds under Section 48(2) of the Social Health Insurance Act, abuse of office under Section 101 of the Penal Code, and falsification of health information.

According to the prosecution, the accused conspired between October 2024 and March 2025 to defraud SHA by submitting false medical claims through a clinic based in Homa Bay County.

In the first count, they were charged with conspiracy to defraud, while four of them faced an additional count of falsifying health records.

The same four are further accused of obtaining and using proceeds of crime, allegedly benefiting from over Ksh 17 million in illegal SHA payments listed under the third and fourth counts.

Ingasira was among nine people arrested on Wednesday over alleged fraudulent claims submitted to the State health body. He was apprehended in Naivasha for his suspected role in a Ksh 17.6 million fraud linked to Archprime Medical Clinic in Homa Bay County.

Authorities were also reported to be pursuing Elijah Wachira, another former SHA acting CEO, in connection with the same offence.

The arrests followed the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) approving charges after reviewing case files submitted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

On September 1, 2025, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) received 1,188 case files from the Social Health Authority (SHA) and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) after a surge of public complaints about rampant fraud in the health sector.

Wachira was suspended from the role in November 2024, rendering the position vacant. Ingasira had filled the position on an acting basis before the appointment of former Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr Mercy Mwangangi to the position, permanently.