Economist David Ndii has confirmed that the government does not own nor control the Ksh104.8 billion Social Health Authority (SHA) system.
In an update on Tuesday, March 4, Ndii addressed public concerns over the cost and ownership of the Social Health Authority (SHA) system, stating that the Ksh104 billion associated with the platform is not government expenditure but user fees spread over a ten-year contract period.
“The UHC digital platform is fully outsourced. GoK has not spent one Ksh on it. Ksh104 billion is user fees payable over a 10-year contract period,” he wrote on X.
Comparing the expenditure to other major financial outlays, Ndii claimed that Kenya paid Ksh77 billion in M-Pesa transaction fees to Safaricom in 2024.
He defended the UHC platform’s cost-effectiveness, explaining that it will provide a similar service at approximately Ksh10 billion per year, translating to around Ksh50 per hospital visit.
A report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu recently revealed that the government does not own nor control the SHA system.
The Auditor General disclosed that the system, its components, and all intellectual property rights are owned by a consortium.
“The ownership of the system, system components and all intellectual property rights shall remain in the ownership of the consortium except for the infrastructure which is to be transferred to the procurement,” the report read in part.
Gathungu noted that the system’s financing model projects Ksh111 billion in revenue over ten years, generated through SHA member contributions, health facility claims, and charges from the track and trace solution.
“According to the financial proposal, the consortium proposed the adoption of a funding model which entails charging fees from member contributions to Social Health Authority (SHA), claims from health facilities and charges for the track and trace solution at a rate of 2.5%, 5% and 1.5% respectively for ten (10) years resulting to projected revenues of Kshs. 111,019,068,754,” the report stated.
Additionally, she pointed out that the revenue contributed by the government is transferred into an escrow account on a daily or weekly basis.
“These funds according to Clause 12.4 of the general conditions of the contract are to be transferred to an Escrow account daily or at a frequency of not less than one week,” the report disclosed.
By Nairobileo