Medical insurance schemes and perhaps the general healthcare situation in Kenya have for a long time now been marred by corruption allegations, underhand dealings, and all manner of ills. One would be forgiven to think that the rot in the health sector only affects public institutions, but well, some of the real heists are planned and executed in private health facilities.
The real criminal conduit is perpetrated in many forms but the ultimate goal is to defraud public institutions at the expense of the health of the ordinary Kenyan. The Weekly Vision investigations have uncovered a case involving Bliss GVS Healthcare, its founder and Chairman Mr Jayesh Saini and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over some issues that have served to frustrate teachers who are the intended beneficiaries of a medical scheme that has now become a pain in the neck.
We wrote to Mr Jayesh seeking a reply over some of the issues but our attempts at getting answers fell on deaf ears. Some of the issues we sought answers to include the case of why Bliss GVS Healthcare Ltd, on many occasions, presented unverifiable claims to TSC which has led to a dispute that has since seen TSC refusing to settle the dubious claims.
There were also concerns about poor quality services, especially at the dental clinics where numerous complaints have been reported owing to a lack of qualified medical personnel. The name Jayesh Saini is not new to controversy in the health sector in the country. Some years ago, Clinix, an entity that later changed its name to Bliss Health Services was sued by the State for defrauding the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) of a sum of Ksh. 200 million. Mr Jayesh Saini is also linked to the ownership of Nairobi West Hospital.
In 2020 for example at the height of the Corona Virus pandemic, Hon. Mutahi Kagwe made the now infamous comment about Afya House, terming it Mafia House, following a looting spree at the Ministry of Health headquarters breeding a new crop of billionaires commonly known as COVID billionaires. But of greater concern is the issue of conflict of interest. In this case, Mr Jayesh Saini also doubles up as a Director of Gesto Pharmaceuticals, an entity that has benefited from a form of coercion where patients from Bliss GVS Healthcare are made to purchase drugs from Gesto Pharmaceuticals.
Mr Saini was also involved, through his other firm, Dinlas Pharma in the importation of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine into the country, at the time the vaccine had not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr Collins Tabu of the Ministry of Health told the media at the time that he was not aware of the existence of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country. Mr Jayesh Saini was at one time mentioned adversely in another scandal involving the now-collapsed Clinix Healthcare, where some Ksh.96M is said to have been lost through a dubious medical scheme for civil servants and members of the disciplined forces.
The contract was supposed to provide outpatient medical services for more than 288,000 public school tutors under the Teachers Service Commission. The cover, which was supposed to be managed by AON, was to benefit the principal contributor, their spouse and four children, but Clinix collapsed under a cloud.
Our investigations also established that there is an offshore account linked to Mr Jayesh Saini where huge amounts of money received as payment from TSC end up. The account is with an overseas company registered in the British Virgin Islands under a company known as Pharma Investment limited. The existence of such an account and the transactions therein put in jeopardy medical covers for TSC totalling over Ksh. 15 billion.
