The High Court in Nairobi has halted the implementation of the three new legislations pushed by President William Ruto in what he envisioned to transform health provision.
Justice Chacha Mwita on Monday issued conservatory orders momentarily barring the operationalization of the Social Health Insurance Fund, Primary Health Care and Digital Health Care Acts.
The three legislations will remain suspended until February 7, 2024, when the Nairobi Constitutional and Human Rights Division judge will issue fresh directions on the matter.
The judge barred respondents including the President through Attorney General JB Muturi, CSs Susan Nakhumicha (Health) and Eliud Owalo (ICT & Digital Economy), Social Health Authority, Commission on Revenue Allocation, Senate, National Assembly, Office of Data Protection Commissioner, Council of Governors or their agents from implementing the Acts.
In his orders on the petition filed by Joseph Enock Aura, Justice Mwita ordered the 12 respondents in the case to file their responses seven days after being served with pleadings.
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The court has given the petitioner, Aura, seven days to file any supplementary affidavit thereafter accompanied by written submissions to the petition not exceeding 10 pages.
The 12 respondents will get a similar number of days after service to file and serve their submissions to the petition also not exceeding 10 pages.
The decision comes days before a team of experts working on regulations on implementation of the scheme was to fix the amount Kenyans were to remit to the newly formed Social Health Authority.
The team was formed by CS Nakhumicha in October after President Ruto signed into law the three Bills that slated to oversee the realization of Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC).
The CS had chosen November 22, 2023 as the effective date of the Social Health Insurance Act via a gazette notice after Ruto proposed a 2.75 per cent contributions by employees.
