The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), last year made a savings of GH¢6,451,267.00 representing 53 per cent of its budget for 2009. The savings was attributed to reforms undertaken by the authority in the second half of last year, Mr Sylvester Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO),

told the Daily Graphic that "during the past seven months, the prudent management reforms and judicious use of the tax payers money have resulted in an expenditure saving of 53 per cent of the authority's budget for last year."

An Accra-based newspaper has, since January 26, 2010, levelled a series of allegations against the NHIA. Among them are the alleged reckless use of public funds to purchase vehicles, a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the CEO and other officials and the hiring of a duty post accommodation for the CEO.

Mr Mensah wondered how such high performance could be portrayed as wasteful, adding that his accusers were motivated by the quest to embark on mischief and a smear campaign.

He said the authority had begun to see tremendous changes in the administration of the NHIA and the schemes in both operational and financial, management across the length and breadth of the country.

On duty post accommodation for the CEO, he explained that since the inception of the scheme in 2004, there had not been any official residence for its chief executive.

He said when the authority wrote to the Ministry of Works and Housing for the allocation of one government bungalow for development into duty post accommodation for its chief executive, it was told that there was none.

"The matter of duty post accommodation for the CEO of the authority was succinctly captured in an official memorandum sent by the Director of Administration to the chairman of the NHIA council on July 15, 2009, part of which read the NHIA does not have an official accommodation to serve as a duty post for its CEO,'' he stated.

Mr Mensah said the amount being mentioned for the payment of accommodation compared favourably with the cost of accommodation being offered to other CEOs of state institutions of similar standing in the country.

"I would also like to place on record that the remuneration I currently receive is much lower than the remuneration of most other CEOs in analogous state institutions. In comparison with the salary of the immediate past Chief Executive of the NHIA, I currently receive only 65 per cent of what my predecessor used to receive," he stressed.

According to Mr Mensah, the board which approved the rental of a duty post accommodation for the CEO was the same board that approved a cut of 35 per cent in his salary as compared with that of his immediate predecessor.

Source: Daily Graphic

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