Two audit officers have dragged the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to the High Court, claiming GH¢145,050 in damages. The plaintiffs, Moro Kwesi Sesi and Kenneth Gbezeh, claim that the NHIA has given them a "raw deal." Joined to the application is Maxwell Amo Hoyte, an accounting consultant. In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs aver that in 2010, the second defendant, Mr Hoyte, employed them as audit officers leading a team of other audit officers, including trainees, to audit mutual insurance schemes under the NHIA. According to the claim, Hoyte, who was not yet licensed as a consultant, operated under Glisten Consult and Aiko Consult and had won contracts to audit the schemes using Glisten and Aiko. It says from 2011, having formed Amazen Consult and obtained a consultant's license, he won contracts in the name of Amazen Consult to audit schemes under the NHIA. Mr Hoyte, according to the claim, then employed the plaintiffs to lead teams, including staff of the NHIA Internal Audit Division, to audit 11 NHIA schemes across the country. They took 102 days to complete the audits and submit reports to Mr Hoyte for transmission to the NHIA. The plaintiffs say it was always understood among the three parties that by virtue of the experience gained in auditing the NHIA schemes and training Internal Audit Division staff on the job, the plaintiffs would be employed by the Authority as permanent staff in its Internal Audit Division. According to the statements, by virtue of that arrangement, the plaintiffs applied themselves assiduously in auditing the schemes and training staff. They received only "per diem" allowances from the authority on all the trips they embarked on and were often conveyed to the schemes via transport provided by the NHIA. The plaintiffs claim that when Hoyte instructed them to report to NHIA officers to take up their assignments, they were not interested to know who had approved the work or whether they were executing the assignments for any of Hoyte’s private consultancies. They said the modus operandi was that the second defendant would call them on phone and instruct them to report to head of the NHIA Internal Audit Division Dr Gustav Cruickshank or his officers, adding that they had a working relationship with Dr Cruickshank through telephone and e-mail. The plaintiffs say at the end of 2012, Dr Cruickshank told them that their relationship with the NHIA had been terminated and they would be employed as arranged. According to them, they were not paid for the work they did for the NHIA through Mr Hoyte’s referral and have received only a fraction of what they deserve, losing out on thousands of Ghana cedis worth of income.