NAIROBI, Kenya – Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, along with activists Eliud Matindi and Magare Gikenyi, has filed a petition seeking to stop the Ministry of Health from rolling out the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
The petition, submitted under a Certificate of Urgency, challenges the constitutionality of implementing the SHIF due to the lack of necessary legislation.
Omtatah and his co-petitioners argue that the subsidiary legislation required to operationalize the Social Health Insurance Act is yet to be enacted, making the fund’s rollout unlawful.
They are urging the court to issue orders halting the SHIF’s implementation until the legal framework is in place.
The petition also calls for the suspension and eventual quashing of the government’s decision to contract Safaricom to provide the Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System for Universal Health Care (UHC).
The petitioners allege that the contract with Safaricom is part of a fraudulent scheme designed to siphon billions from the SHIF and, potentially, the Consolidated Fund.
“The petitioners have attached highly classified documents exposing a fraud scheme between corrupt government operatives and powerful actors within the Safaricom Consortium,” Omtatah stated.
He added that the documents reveal a covert agreement between the Kenyan government and Safaricom to loot public funds under the guise of health digitization.
Despite these claims, the National Assembly Health Committee recently cleared the project, stating that all concerns surrounding the multi-billion health digitization scheme had been addressed.
However, the committee had initially raised issues with the accuracy of the Means Testing Instrument (MTI), which determines premium contributions for informal sector households.
The MTI, which was tested on 2,000 individuals across eight counties, has faced scrutiny over its data accuracy, particularly after similar issues arose in the education sector.
Acting chairman of the Social Health Authority, Abdi Mohammed, reassured lawmakers that the MTI data was reliable, dismissing concerns about its applicability.
Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa also defended the government’s approach, describing the system as tamper-proof and essential for ensuring access to affordable healthcare.
Barasa emphasized that the SHIF would address the longstanding challenges faced by Kenyans in securing quality medical services.
The MTI pilot project was conducted in Turkana, Tana River, Narok, Migori, Bungoma, Bomet, Kiambu, and Nairobi, using 17 variables to determine the premium contributions for informal sector households
The petition, submitted under a Certificate of Urgency, challenges the constitutionality of implementing the SHIF due to the lack of necessary legislation.
Omtatah and his co-petitioners argue that the subsidiary legislation required to operationalize the Social Health Insurance Act is yet to be enacted, making the fund’s rollout unlawful.
They are urging the court to issue orders halting the SHIF’s implementation until the legal framework is in place.
The petition also calls for the suspension and eventual quashing of the government’s decision to contract Safaricom to provide the Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System for Universal Health Care (UHC).
The petitioners allege that the contract with Safaricom is part of a fraudulent scheme designed to siphon billions from the SHIF and, potentially, the Consolidated Fund.
“The petitioners have attached highly classified documents exposing a fraud scheme between corrupt government operatives and powerful actors within the Safaricom Consortium,” Omtatah stated.
He added that the documents reveal a covert agreement between the Kenyan government and Safaricom to loot public funds under the guise of health digitization.
Despite these claims, the National Assembly Health Committee recently cleared the project, stating that all concerns surrounding the multi-billion health digitization scheme had been addressed.
However, the committee had initially raised issues with the accuracy of the Means Testing Instrument (MTI), which determines premium contributions for informal sector households.
The MTI, which was tested on 2,000 individuals across eight counties, has faced scrutiny over its data accuracy, particularly after similar issues arose in the education sector.
Acting chairman of the Social Health Authority, Abdi Mohammed, reassured lawmakers that the MTI data was reliable, dismissing concerns about its applicability.
Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa also defended the government’s approach, describing the system as tamper-proof and essential for ensuring access to affordable healthcare.
Barasa emphasized that the SHIF would address the longstanding challenges faced by Kenyans in securing quality medical services.
The MTI pilot project was conducted in Turkana, Tana River, Narok, Migori, Bungoma, Bomet, Kiambu, and Nairobi, using 17 variables to determine the premium contributions for informal sector households
