SHA Absolved of Blame in Claims Scandal as Union Names Responsible Agencies

Francis Atwoli, the Secretary General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), has accused the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Digital Health Authority (DHA) of being responsible for recent fraudulent claims at the Social Health Authority (SHA).
In a statement on Tuesday August 26, Atwoli claimed that he had been trying to arrange a meeting with Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale for a month to discuss these issues, but had not succeeded.
Atwoli, who is also a member of the SHA board, stated that the core issue is that the SHA’s operations depend entirely on an IT platform controlled by the MoH and DHA.
He argued that this setup robs theSHA of the autonomy needed to independently verify claims, thus allowing fraudulent ones to enter the system.
“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,” the statement read.
Atwoli noted that SHA was established through an independent Act of Parliament, which means it should not be subordinate to either the DHA or the MoH.
He added that it is disturbing that SHA, despite having its own independent board, is being made “secondary” to the DHA and the MoH.
He stated that it is hard for him to explain to Kenyan workers why their contributions are not helping them, and suggested he had considered quitting the board.
“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,” Atwoli said in the statement.
The union leader warned that if the SHA is not given 100 percent control of its IT platform, workers will lose faith in the institution. This lack of trust, he said, would ultimately affect compliance and the provision of services.
He also pointed out that theIT system’s loopholes prevent the SHA from properly verifying claimsor deciding who should receive payments.
This, according to Atwoli, leads to SHA being wrongly blamed for the mistakes of the DHA and MoH.