Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha, revealed that the government has a testing tool to track the income and wealth of self-employed Kenyans.
In an interview on Citizen TV on Sunday, the CS explained that the self-testing tool will calculate wealth and pave the way for unemployed and self-employed individuals to remit funds to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
She explained that the tool will inform the government which categories the contributors fall in and how much they can be expected to contribute.
"We have people who are in self-employment so they have an income so they know how much they make," Nakhumicha stated.
"We have a means-testing tool which is a scientific tool that has been developed and it is self-testing. It is you saying that this is me, I am in an informal setting and this is how much I make in a year and therefore the calculation for my 2.75 per cent will be this much."
She further revealed that the tool will categorise the self-employed, unemployed but with an income, and those who have no income.
"If you are not in any form of employment but you have some form of income, still you are doing self-declaration and therefore, there is a calculation of what would be 2.75 per cent of your income," Nakhumicha added.
"We have people who have zero income, they should be able to declare and the tool shows that it is true then they fall in the category that they need to be taken care of by the government."
She however cautioned those eying to dupe the government into remitting less than their income categories.
The CS revealed that the state will study economic characteristics such as their lifestyles and personal belongings to determine the categories they fall in.
"You cannot hide your economic characteristics. If I look at the watch you are wearing, I can give an estimate of what your income is. I want to speak to Kenyans, you don’t have to hide, this is your health, take care of your health," the CS explained.
"Declare your income yourself and what we are promising is a consistent benefit package that everyone is going to benefit from."
She further highlighted aspects like the houses individuals live in, the watches they wear and other luxury jewellery.
"If you live in a grass house, it cannot be hidden. We will observe the economic characteristics of the unemployed to see how they will contribute," she added.
Nakhumicha further revealed that President William Ruto is set to roll out the registration date anytime soon and that NHIF cards will serve alongside SHIF in the initial rollout.
