On November 19, 2023, President William Ruto made yet another promise to Kenyans, free medical care for all Kenyans.
Speaking during a church service in Sotik, Bomet county, Ruto said as of January 2024, Kenyans would be treated free of charge in all Kenyan hospitals.
“As from January (2024), we will reduce NHIF, the one you pay Ksh500, so that the poorest pay Ksh300. For those who are not able to even pay the Ksh300, the government of Kenya will pay for you because we will measure the ability of every Kenyan,” he said.
“Each one of us as Kenyans will go to the hospital, be treated and go home without being asked for a penny, because we want to make sure Kenya is a country which is functioning well.”
However, a month and a half later, there is no sign of free medical care, with the infamous Social Health Insurance fund, which was set to replace NHIF, suffering a setback in court.
A week after Ruto’s promise, the High Court suspended the planned implementation of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 by the Ministry of Health until February 2024.
The court through Justice Chacha Mwita on November 27, 2023, temporarily stopped the state from enforcing three new funds gazetted by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha pending the determination of a case lodged in court by activist Joseph Enock.
“In the meantime, a conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the respondents (President William Ruto, CSs in the Ministry of Health and Information, the Attorney General, Commission for Revenue Collection, The National Assembly and the Senate), their agents and or anyone acting on their directives from implementing and or enforcing The Social Health Insurance Act,2023; The Primary Health Care Act, 2023 and the Digital Health Act,2023 until February 7, 2024,” Justice Mwita ordered.
The Act, which- would have created the Social Health Insurance Fund, would have hiked monthly premiums paid by Kenyans to the government’s health scheme.
