The Deputy Head of Corporate Affairs at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has attributed reported gross financial malfeasance at the authority to the failure of officials to carry out internal audits over six years. Mr Eric Ametor Quayme said since 2004, there has been no audit of the financial accounts of the authority, resulting in various forms of mismanagement and misapplication of funds. “The sad state of affairs within the National Health Insurance Scheme across the country… is that since they were established they have never, never been audited and this has given the leeway to the scheme to misapply or misuse, or even let me say, steal state money, government money…which has been given to them to operate with,” Mr Ametor Quayme said. He was speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show. The NHIA has for some time now come under the spotlight but mostly for the wrong reasons. Early on, issues of the supply of fake drugs have tied into reports of service providers making false claims from the authority, a situation which triggered the suspension of some service providers. According to him, the authority has now embarked on an intensive “clinical audit” to ensure that expenditures service providers have submitted correspond with the true cost of services provided. The NHIA official also touched on reports of extravagant expenditures by the current administration of the authority headed by Mr Sylvester Mensah. The Searchlight newspaper has carried a serialized exposition on the NHIA suggesting that Mr Mensah and his team have within months of assuming post bought for their own use, luxurious vehicles and rented posh apartments. On the authority’s decision to spend $72,000 to rent accommodation for Mr Mensah, Mr Ametor Quayme said due diligence was done to ensure financial prudence. “We did not have a government accommodation then so it became necessary for the authority to actually find him accommodation which is normal with all state institutions of this kind. So that was the reason why the authority went ahead and procured a duty-post accommodation for him,” he said. “My understanding is that the authority is making preparations to put up its own staff residence for the Chief Executive Officer,” he said adding that a request by the authority to the Water Resources, Works and Housing Ministry for accommodation had been turned down. Asked whether Chief Executive, Ras Boateng is being investigated as reported by the media, Mr Ametor Quayme said he was not aware of any investigations.” Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana