CS John Mbadi defends switch from NHIF to SHA

By Robert Mutasi 

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi defended the government's move to replace the National Health Insurance Fund with the newly created Social Health Authority. 

He had asked Kenyans to be patient and focus on the future despite the initial teething problems facing the SHA.

Replacement of NHIF with SHA in the recent weeks has seen Kenyans engage in heated debate, with several wondering why a well-established institution was being replaced.

Responding to these concerns in an interview with Spice FM on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, Mbadi says the NHIF has not been running as it should; thus, the introduction of a better system.

Kenyans have been complaining as to why we have SHA and not NHIF. The latter was not working. Kenyans must understand that when a system is not working, we get a system that is working," said Mbadi during a news conference. 

He conceded that SHA may face challenges in the initial stages but maintained it is not a reason to return to the old system.

Mbadi attacked what he perceives as a tendency among Kenyans to abandon reform when they hit difficulties. 

"The problem with us is that if we attempt to get something to work and then face challenges, instead of correcting those challenges and moving forward, we tend to go back," he said.

The Cabinet Secretary went as far as to draw a biblical analogy, comparing Kenyans' resistance to change with the story of Lot's wife, who looked back and was subsequently punished by turning into a pillar of salt.

Kenyans think like Lot's wife, who was told not to look back, yet she looked back and stayed at the same place. So we need to be looking forward. If SHA has challenges, we need to deal with these challenges," Mbadi remarked.

He clarified further that SHA, being a national institution, would inherit the liabilities and assets of NHIF, adding that its success depends on how these would be managed going forward. 

"The bottom line is, this is a national institution; you cannot run away from it. It takes liabilities and assets, so once SHA takes liabilities, it will have to pay for those liabilities," Mbadi concluded.

The SHA was launched as part of broader government efforts to ensure that Kenyans-and more importantly, the most vulnerable among them-receive health care.

Though NHIF has been credited with securing coverage for millions, complaints abound about the inefficiency and corruption and the wanton lack of transparency in its operations.

Mbadi called on Kenyans to give SHA a chance at taming the long-standing issues and assured the public that the government was committed to upholding the new system.