The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Kenya) has
threatened to withdraw from the Social Health Authority (SHA) board, citing
concerns over the authority’s lack of autonomy in managing its IT systems.
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli said SHA’s operations
are constrained because its IT platform is managed by the Digital Health
Authority (DHA) and the Ministry of Health (MoH), despite the law establishing
SHA as an independent body.
“For the last one month, Cotu (K) has been seeking an urgent
meeting with Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to address challenges facing
SHA, but unfortunately, our efforts have not been successful,” Atwoli said in a
statement on Tuesday.
He noted that SHA’s reliance on an IT platform run by DHA
and MoH has limited its ability to independently verify and process hospital
claims.
“At present, SHA relies on an IT system controlled by DHA
and MoH to process and pay hospitals, and this has created challenges because
the authority has no mandate over authentication of claims or determining who
should be paid,” Atwoli stated.
According to Atwoli, this arrangement risks undermining
confidence among workers who contribute to the Social Health Insurance scheme,
as they expect SHA to have full control of their funds.
“It is the position of Cotu (K) that workers’ hard-earned
money should be managed directly by SHA as provided in law. Unless SHA is given
full control of its IT platform, workers may lose faith in the institution,
thus affecting compliance and service provision,” he said.
Atwoli said Cotu has raised the concerns at board level and
is considering whether to continue participating in the SHA board.
“Cotu is currently deliberating on whether to continue
sitting on a board that has limited authority, or to withdraw entirely,” he
said, adding that the union will soon convene a meeting at Tom Mboya Labour
College to decide on the way forward.
The Ministry of Health and the Digital Health Authority had
not responded to the concerns by press time.
