• However, he claims two ladies whom he hired defrauded customers more than Sh400,000 but he already paid the money while the two are already in court.
• He was allegedly made NHIF's agent after the realisation that some people were travelling for more than 40 kilometres to seek the services.
A Nyeri man has vowed to sue the NHIF over a public notice circulated on the insurers social media pages on Tuesday terming him as a fraudster.
The NHIF had cautioned the public on its Facebook page to be wary of individuals and groups purporting to collect premiums on its behalf.
But one of the three named in the notice, John Macharia Gichoho (Jomagi) on Thursday came out vowing to take the insurance to court for defamation.
The Muungano Mwema Enterprise leader was said to have been collecting premiums in Karatina, Mukurwe-ini, Kieni and Othaya in Nyeri County.
Muungano Mwema is a Community Based Organisation with which he opened the account.
Gichoho said he is consulting lawyers for legal advice before taking action.
Macharia said the public notice by NHIF was meant to defame him, adding that he was shocked by the claims that NHIF had not appointed any group or individuals to collect money from the public on its behalf.
On the contrary, he said he has been working for NHIF for the last 12 years, from March 2007.
“That is when they came to Mukurwe-ini and gave me an NHIF account,” he said.
He had requested the manager to open an office in Mukurwe-ini to bring the services closer to the people but the manager said there were no finances and instead requested him to be one of their agents.
He was allegedly made NHIF's agent after the realisation that some people were travelling for more than 40 kilometres to seek the services.
“I started working voluntarily for them until I registered 200 members. I would collect the money and deposit it in the NHIF account, which they had given to me,” he said.
Senior officials pledged to put him on a commission of three per cent if he registered 500 members, he claimed.
The commission was also to motivate him so he could extend his coverage to Kieni, Tetu and Othaya.
He attained the number (500) in the fourth year and qualified for the commission, which saw him sign an MoU with the board of directors. It was renewable yearly.
He has collected more than Sh70 million on behalf of NHIF since getting the job, he says.
However, he claims two ladies whom he hired defrauded customers more than Sh400,000 but he already paid the money while the two are already in court.
NHIF, he said, still owes him Sh600,000 in commission from April 2017 to date, which he also want paid.
The company later reviewed the commission upward from three to five per cent.
“According to our agreement with NHIF, if any money went missing, they were supposed to surcharge me but up to now, I have never received any demand from the board of directors, summoned or the MoU terminated,” he said.
He said the announcement on social media that termed him a fraudster left his family distressed and was meant to defame him.
“They should not have been received the money amounting to Sh70 million from me if I was a fraudster,” he protested.
The national insurer in a statement on Wednesday said it was illegal for any unauthorised person or group to purport to collect money on behalf of the Fund.
According to NHIF the unauthorised groups, mostly operate in Nyeri and Murang'a counties.
The other two unauthorised groups, NHIF said, collecting money from the public included Josmah Commercial Agencies in Kieni, Nyeri county, and Lee Factor Enterprises Services in Murang'a and Kangema.
The statement said thr groups have been reported to the police and are under investigations.