Eldoret Court Postpones Plea for Second Time in Sh10 Million eCitizen Fraud Case at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital

An Eldoret court has postponed, for the second time, the plea-taking of two suspects accused of orchestrating a Sh10 million fraud scheme at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital through manipulation of the government's eCitizen payment system.

The suspects, Khamisi Hussein Akida and Jane Wangari Wachira, a former employee of the hospital, face charges of conspiracy to defraud and violations under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act. The case was mentioned before Chief Magistrate Peter Ndwiga in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

The alleged fraud occurred between January 1, 2025, and February 9, 2026. The suspects reportedly convinced patients seeking treatment at the hospital to make payments in cash or via personal M-Pesa numbers instead of using the official government paybill. They then accessed the eCitizen platform to falsely mark the bills as cleared, without depositing the funds into the hospital's official account. This scheme allowed them to siphon more than Sh10 million from unsuspecting patients who believed their payments were going directly to the government system.

Investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested the pair after the hospital management reported the suspected fraud. During the probe, Akida allegedly directed detectives to Wachira, identifying her as a key accomplice in the operation. The transactions, primarily conducted via mobile phones, have required extensive digital forensic analysis to trace the flow of funds, including bank and M-Pesa records.

In the recent court session, DCI officer Edwin Chirchir, attached to Naiberi Police Station in Ainabkoi Sub-County, informed the court that the necessary records had not yet been forwarded to DCI headquarters in Nairobi for complete examination. Prosecutors requested more time through a miscellaneous application to finalize the forensic review. The defense did not raise objections to the postponement.

The court granted the request and directed the suspects to appear again on March 12, 2026, for plea-taking once the analysis is concluded. This marks the second deferral of the plea in the case, highlighting the complexity of the digital evidence involved.

The incident has exposed potential vulnerabilities in the hospital's billing processes and raised concerns about internal collusion in exploiting the national eCitizen platform at a major public health facility.