The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Chief Executive (CEO) Elijah Wachira has assured NHIF employees that they will not lose their jobs as the Authority rebrands.
Even as the company transitions to the Social Health Authority (SHA), tension has been reported among NHIF employees due to a new vetting exercise that is expected to be conducted by the new authority.
“Nobody will be fired. No employee will lose his or her job. We have three options SHA will take after it finalizes its human resources instruments. We would recruit those that they would like to recruit and the first option in this recruitment exercise will be NHIF staff, Wachira explained.
At the same time, the SHA boss explained that for those employees SHA will not absorb, the government will seek alternative options for them.
Wachira explains SHA’s effect on employees
‘Those who will not be taken up by SHA and do not choose voluntary early retirement will be sent to the Public Service Commission (PSC) for redeployment to various agencies,’ Wachira further explained in an exclusive interview with Citizen TV.
On March 5, the Principal Secretary (PS) for Health, Harry Kimtai, announced that all NHIF staff would undergo a comprehensive vetting process before being incorporated into the SHA.
Also Read: Biggest Winners in the Switch from NHIF to SHA & Benefits They Will Get
According to the PS, the move was intended to weed out corrupt public servants within NHIF.
“I want to ensure that the operations of the Social Health Authority, which we are going to establish, will support and ensure that there is no more fraud in claims, a challenge NHIF has faced for a long time,” the PS said at the time.
According to a report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), released on March 5 regarding system policies, procedures, and practices at the NHIF, the commission highlighted several irregularities in the NHIF system logs, leading to unauthorized access, which in turn resulted in additional unauthorized services for healthcare providers.
Elijah assures Kenyans they are weeding out corruption
However, the SHA boss has said they have been getting rid of corrupt individuals within NHIF.
“Where it is proved that someone is indeed involved in fraud, we have separated with many.
Where it is an allegation and there is no proof then the people who have been under investigation have been cleared and have gone back to work,” Wachira highlighted.
Also Read: County to Drop Healthcare Scheme Members Who Miss SHA Registration
As of Saturday, September 28 according to the SHA CEO, Kenyans who have registered for the new health program are 1.93 million Kenyans.
The CEO is convinced that by Monday or Tuesday, SHA will have reached its registration target.
Follow our WhatsApp Channel for real-time news updates.
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaB3k54HltYFiQ1f2i2C
