The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ), also known as the Ombudsman, on Tuesday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Social Health Authority (SHA) Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingasira to address concerns raised over a Ksh7.3 billion remittance to health facilities.
The Commission issued the directive after a Kenyan, Collins Omollo, applied for a review, citing SHA's failure to provide critical details within the statutory timelines outlined in the Access to Information Act of 2016.
According to CAJ, the demand to Ingasira followed a letter issued by the authority stating that it had authorized a distributing formula of a cumulative total of Ksh7.3B to 5,000 health facilities.
''The request stems from a letter dated January 2, 2025, in which SHA confirmed disbursing a cumulative total of Kshs. 7.3 billion to 5,000 health facilities between October 1, 2024, and 31st December 2024,'' read part of the statement by CAJ.
According to the letter, KSh1.3B was allocated from the Primary Healthcare (PHC) Fund, while KSh6B came from the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
The CAJ has now directed the SHA CEO to furnish a detailed list of all 5,000 health facilities, specifying the exact amounts each received from the PHC Fund and/or the SHIF.
Additionally, the Commission seeks clarity on the criteria used to allocate PHC Fund capitation.
Furthermore, the Commission demanded a comprehensive breakdown of SHA’s revenue collections for October, November, and December 2024.
This includes a month-by-month account of funds collected from both the formal and informal sectors, in line with the concerns raised by Omollo.
"The Commission notes that the statutory timelines to process the request for information under Section 9(1) have since lapsed. Therefore, the Commission requests your institutional report within seven days to allow for an appropriate decision on the application," the letter addressed to the SHA CEO read in part.
However, the CAJ decried that despite the letter with the same demands reaching the CEO of SHA earlier, he failed to process the requests within the 21 days as stipulated in the law. This prompted the Commission to write to the CEO, seeking clarification.
''In a letter dated February 13, 2025, the Commission invoked Section 22(3) of the Access to Information Act, 2016, directing SHA CEO to submit an institutional report within seven days. The report will enable the Commission to make an informed decision on Mr Omollo's application,'' CAJ shared in the statement.
The rollout of the SHIF by the Ministry of Health has faced significant challenges, leading to occasional threats of service disruptions by healthcare practitioners. The latest standoff involved the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), which raised concerns over unresolved issues affecting healthcare service delivery.
