COTU Statement on Full Automation of Social Health Authority (SHA) to Prevent Corruption

For the last one month, the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya), COTU (K) has been seeking an urgent meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Health, Hon. Aden Duale, EGH, with the aim of addressing challenges facing the Social Health Authority (SHA), but, unfortunately, our efforts have not been successful.

The core challenge facing SHA is that its operations are entirely dependent on an IT platform that remains under the full control of both the Digital Health Authority (DHA) and the Ministry of Health (MoH), instead of being independently managed by SHA itself. Instructively, SHA was established through an independent Act of Parliament, which does not subordinate it to either the DHA or the MoH.

Indeed, as a Board Member representing workers on the Board of the SHA, I am painfully unable to explain to workers what is happening at SHA considering that SHA is being used as a conveyor belt to process payments while it does not control the IT system aimed at addressing the very problems created by the defunct NHIF. It is even more disturbing that even though SHA has its own independent Board which must be allowed to operate in line with its founding legislation, an amorphous entity, DHA, alongside the Ministry of Health continue to make SHA play secondary to them.

At present, unfortunately, SHA relies on an IT system, controlled by DHA and MoH, to process and pay hospitals and this has created serious loopholes because SHA has no authority to authenticate and verify hospital claims or to determine who should or should not be paid. As a result, SHA continues to be blamed, erroneously, for all misdeeds of both DHA and MoH.

As representatives of workers, COTU (K) is deeply concerned as workers contribute faithfully to the Social Health Insurance with the understanding that SHA is fully in charge of their funds. It is, therefore, unacceptable that workers' hard-earned money is managed through an "amorphous" arrangement where DHA and MoH controls critical systems.

It is the position of COTU (K) that unless SHA is given 100% control of its IT platform, workers will lose the faith and trust they have in the institution and thus affecting compliance and provision of services.

COTU (K) has raised these concerns at the SHA Board level and if no action is taken, we shall be forced to reconsider our position. Indeed, we are currently contemplating whether to continue sitting on a Board that has no authority or to withdraw entirely. To this end, COTU (K) will soon convene a meeting at Tom Mboya Labour College to deliberate on our continued participation at the SHA Board.

Dr. Francis Atwoli, NOM (DZA), CBS, EBS, MBS
SECRETARY GENERAL COTU (K)