Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has revealed in Senate that the system running the Social Health Insurance Fund (Shif) under the Social Health Authority (SHA) was unprocedurally acquired and is unconstitutionally operated. Its acquisition was single-sourced, shrouded in secrecy, and flouted public procurement laws.
The system cost a staggering Ksh104 billion (more than $950 million). That’s not all.
A percentage of contributions Kenyans make to the fund goes to shadowy providers and operators of the system. The Auditor-General cast doubt on the scheme’s lawfulness and effectiveness.
These damning revelations come on the heels of public uproar over unavailability of services under the scheme. A patient who stormed the Health Ministry to protest that SHA was not working, and who was later abducted from a hospital for her derring-do, represents the frustration of Kenyans over the scheme.
Where was parliament when this scheme was being concocted ? Why didn’t relevant parliamentary watchdog committees launch their own investigation immediately the public began to complain? Why did parliament appropriate such a staggering amount for the SHA software ?
The answer is also the reason why parliament overwhelmingly passed Finance Bill, 2024, and cheered wildly when it was later withdrawn due to countrywide protests.
The reason is also why MPs supported the Adani airport deal and again cheered hysterically when it was withdraw after a US court indicted the corporation for illicit behaviour.
It is also the reason why parliament has not conducted an investigation into who murdered youth protesting plunder and misrule last year, and is continuing to abduct, torture, murder and “disappear” youthful critics of the regime.
The answer in a nutshell is parliament long abdicated its constitutional mandate of safeguarding the public from excesses of the executive. It is no longer the people’s House. It is now the president’s House.
In a span of two years, we have witnessed abduction and murder of critics, thievery on an unprecedented scale, failure of or disquiet over flagship projects like Hustler Fund and Affordable Housing, high cost of living, Adani misadventure, fake fertiliser scam, continuation of deadly banditry in certain regions, the growth of a “culture of lies”, crises in health and education, foreign policy debacles, and now the SHA controversy.
In the spirit of King Midas, everything the regime touches turns to rust.
To adapt Winston Churchill, never in recent history has so much damage been caused to so many by so few in such a short period of time.
Despite all the failures, many people have always assumed that the regime, at its heart, means well. They persuaded themselves that the regime would see the error of its ways and do better. No one wants to doubt that their government means well.
Even harsh critics want government to succeed. But the Auditor-General’s report mustnow force us to ask a painful question – has the regime ever meant well? Is it still logical or patriotic to assume the regime means well? Isn’t doing so living in a fool’s paradise?
Tee Ngugi is a Nairobi-based political and social commentator.
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