DPP withdraws Sh17.59m fraud charges against former SHA CEOs Wachira and Ingasira

DPP Renson Ingonga. [File]

The Director of Public Prosecutions has withdrawn fraud charges against former Social Health Authority (SHA) acting chief executives Elijah Wachira and Robert Ingasira over alleged fraudulent medical claims worth Sh17.59 million.

Milimani Principal Magistrate Daisy Mutai discharged the two after allowing the prosecution to withdraw the charges under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“In view of the reasons advanced, the charge against the 4th (Elijah Wachira) and the 5th (Robert Ing asira) accused persons are hereby withdrawn under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),” the magistrate ordered.

She further directed that the cash bail deposited by the two accused persons be released to the depositors. 

The decision followed a review of the investigation file by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which established that the former acting CEOs had left SHA before the disputed claims were submitted and had not participated in the payment process.

The charges relate to claims allegedly submitted through Archprime Medical Clinic in Oyugis, Homa Bay County, between October 2024 and May 20, 2025, amounting to Sh17,591,473.

Wachira, through his lawyers Manyonge Wanyama & Associates LLP had written to DPP Renson Ingonga on December 16, 2025, seeking a review of the charges under Article 157(6)(c) of the Constitution.

The lawyers argued that their client had left SHA on November 12, 2024, before the disputed transactions took place, and could not reasonably be held criminally responsible for activities undertaken after his departure.

Former Social Health Authority (SHA) acting chief executives Elijah Wachira. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

They further told the DPP that Wachira had not been mentioned adversely in the 2,235 pages of documents supplied by the investigating officer.

In her orders, Magistrate Mutai also withdrew the charges against Ingasira, the fifth accused person in the case, who had also served as acting chief executive of SHA.

Wachira and Ingasira had been charged alongside Arthur Otula, Rosemary Daraja, Peter Abuna and Archprime Medical Clinic Oyugis in a case involving alleged fraud against SHA.

According to the charge sheet, the accused persons faced allegations of conspiring to defraud the authority of Sh17.59 million. Wachira and Ingasira were also charged with misappropriation of funds, contrary to Section 48(2) of the Social Health Insurance Act.

The other accused persons faced additional charges, including falsification of health information, acquisition and use of proceeds of crime, and uttering false documents.

Wachira was appointed chief executive of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October 2023 following a competitive recruitment process. He later served as acting chief executive of SHA during the transition from NHIF to the new social health insurance framework, which was rolled out on October 1, 2024.

The case will continue against the remaining accused persons.