President William Ruto on Tuesday appointed Dr Abdi Mohammed to head the Board of the Social Health Authority (SHA).
According to a Gazette Notice dated Tuesday, September 17, Abdi will be taking over as the new chair of the SHA board after the position was left vacant by Dr Timothy Olweny who was appointed to the position in November last year.
Mohamed will serve in the position for a period of three years.
Dr.Abdi had been serving on the same board as the chair of the Strategy and Operations Committee.
In the same appointments, Olweny was transferred to the Board of the National Cancer Institute where he will serve as the chairperson for a period of three years.
The Social Health Authority was established after the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 came into force after being assented to by President William Ruto on October 19, 2023.
SHA replaced the repealed National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) with all enhanced benefits schemes and packages under NHIF being transferred to the new authority.
However, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) continues to grapple with legal headwinds. In July, the High Court dealt a major blow to the new health plan by declaring the establishment of authority unconstitutional.
In its ruling, the court declared all laws enacted by Ruto’s administration to overhaul the health care system as "null and void."
However, the Ministry of Health was able to obtain a stay order on the SHIF allowing it to proceed with the rollout.
Under the new SHIF scheme, formal sector employees are required to contribute 2.75% of their monthly salaries to the fund.
Kenyans in the informal sector will pay a fixed monthly amount of Ksh 500.
In the previous NHIF system, contributions ranged from Ksh 1,400 to Ksh1,700 monthly, depending on salaries, with employers expected to match the contributions. Self-employed individuals previously made voluntary contributions of Ksh 500.
