Cabinet Minister Kithure Kindiki and Attorney General Justin Muturi were summoned by Court on Wednesday 11 January over a bid awarded to several insurers in the country.
Two activists, Chrispine Onyango and Henry Shitanda, pleaded with Supreme Court Justice Hedwig Ongudi to stop the Treasury Department from disbursing money to a consortium of insurance companies.
The two men argued that the law was breached when a Ksh 8.7 billion package was awarded to a group of companies to provide health insurance for the National Police Service and the Kenya Prison Service.
“Even if NPS and KPS members have chosen to receive advanced health insurance, the same can only be offered under NHIF because only the NHIF has a direct mandate to provide health insurance of any kind. for government agencies,” they said.
President William Ruto (third from left) and other leaders view the artistic impressions of the new National Police Academy on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. President William Ruto (third from left) and other leaders view the artistic impressions of the new National Police Academy on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.FILE
According to Onyango and Shitanda, the government violated Section 15(5) of the NHIF Act, noting that the bidding was aimed at profiting from the business activities of certain individuals.
"In doing so, the Principal's Administrative Clerk also violated the requirements of Section 44(1) of the Public Property Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015, which assigns primary responsibility to the accountant members to ensure that all contracts are performed within a public framework. The entity complies with the law,” the activists admitted.
In December 2022, the Ministry of Interior, the National Police Service and the Kenya Prisons Service called on service providers to bid for health insurance coverage for members of the National Police Service and the Kenya Prisons Service.
The ministry stressed that only insurance service providers, a consortium of insurance companies or public institutions are eligible to participate in the tender. Two weeks later, the tender was awarded to a consortium of three insurance providers. Onyango and Shitanda objected to the decision, saying the bid was granted to the consortium without due process.
“The defendants whose employees were public servants gave up their well-known health insurance (NHIF) and broke the law by advertising and bidding for private companies,” the court document states.
However, Judge Ongundi refused to issue an injunction barring the NPS Principal's Administrative Clerk and any other senior accountants from making any payments to insurance companies.
Instead, the court ordered the petitioners to serve the defendants within three days and to appear in court on January 17, 2023 for further instructions. Administrative police officers perform weapons maneuvers during their unconscious march on Wednesday, January 11, 2022.
Content created and supplied by: Legendboss (via Opera News )
COMMENTS