Two politicians have appealed the government’s decision to transfer police medical insurance from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

In a petition filed at the High Court, Chrispine Odhiambo and Henry Shitanda claim the Respondents, whose employees are public servants, and thus mandatory and statutory contributors to the NHIF have abdicated a well-known medical cover and gone against the law to advertise and issue the tender to private firms.

They further argue that the Respondents do not have the capacity to award the tender to any other provider as Section 15(3) (2A) of the NHIF Act No 1 of 2022 only allows employers other than those under the National and County governments to seek an exemption from paying NHIF cover for their employees.

Duo claims the award of the tender MICNG/002/2022-2023 is illegal as it flouted several procurement requirements under the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Act.

“The award was rushed despite a protest letter, and was deliberately crafted and executed in the above manner to enable sharing of the Sh8,699,999,999 of public money among the awarded bidders in collusion with a few individuals to satisfy the interests of a few people thus going against the spirit of Vision 2030 flagship project that aims to provide Universal Health Coverage to all Kenyans,” the petition.