Why teachers shift to SHA faces legal landmines

It has now emerged that teachers had little to no say in the Sh21 billion deal that shifted their medical cover to the government-run Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme.

Insiders familiar with the matter revealed that the decision, reached on Monday by the three main unions—the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet)—bypassed key legal requirements such as competitive contracting and public participation before settling on the option.

Instead, the new medical cover was effected through a presidential decree issued at State House following a meeting between teacher representatives and President William Ruto on September 13.

During the meeting, President Ruto criticised the existing medical cover, saying it offered neither value for money nor adequate access to healthcare services.

However, both the teachers’ unions and their employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), were given no alternative but to adopt the SHA scheme as a replacement for MINET.

This effectively made the acquisition of the new medical cover a single-sourced process, a move that could have serious legal implications, according to legal experts familiar with the matter.

“No advertisement was issued for the SHA, nor were other competitors invited to bid for the tender. Remember how MINET was procured? It was an open process where bidders presented proposals detailing the scope of cover, benefits and costs and the best offer won. Why was this one single-sourced?” a senior union official said in confidence.

In the weeks following the President’s meeting, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei announced via Facebook that he had received a joint report on the proposed shift to the government-run medical scheme on October 30.

However, the preparation of the report excluded the teachers’ unions, raising serious questions about the lack of public participation in a matter directly affecting educators. 

By Wednesday, it emerged that the government was now rushing to convene a public participation forum to address possible legal hurdles.

No consultations

Sources within Knut and Kuppet, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said no further consultations took place after the President’s September 13 meeting.

“I called the Secretary General (Collins Oyuu) three times asking for details on the issue, but he told me that TSC had not provided any information,” a Knut branch secretary told The Standard.

Constitutional lawyers now warn that the secretive manner in which the process has been handled could form the basis of a legal challenge once the deal takes effect, one that could see the agreement suspended and teachers left in limbo.

“The main issue of concern is whether public participation took place, as it is a mandatory legal requirement. If it did not, this could be a strong basis for a court battle,” advocate Ken Echesa told The Standard.

Echesa cautioned that while single sourcing is permissible under certain legal provisions, its application is limited and questioned whether a scheme of such scale qualifies for that exemption.

“Direct procurement should not be abused. At the very least, national union officials should have consulted teachers through their branch leaders before making such a decision,” he said.

He acknowledged that teachers had faced challenges under MINET but warned that shifting them to the SHA without proper due diligence is risky, especially given the concerns raised in Parliament about the viability of the state-run insurer.

According to Echesa, the unilateral decision by the unions suggests that the process may not have been guided by the teachers’ best interests.

“The union has abused its mandate. This move appears to serve the personal interests of union leaders rather than the teaching fraternity.

Teachers were not consulted and therefore, the unions lack the authority to commit them to this migration,” he said.

However, on Tuesday, Kuppet Chairman Omboko Milemba said the union would this week engage its members to gather their views on the proposed changes.

He defended the unions’ decision to accept the deal, arguing that it offers better terms than the previous MINET cover.

Milemba, who is also the Emuhaya MP, said the outcome of the two-week public participation exercise will form the basis of a final report to be presented to the TSC.

“If our members reject the deal, we will go back to TSC and inform them. We can even extend the MINET cover, it has been done before,” Milemba said.

He added that the proposed scheme would expand the annual cover from Sh15 billion to Sh21 billion and significantly increase the number of health facilities accessible to teachers from 867 to more than 9,000 nationwide.

Insiders, however, claim that the government inflated the figures by including all dispensaries in the list of accredited facilities.