Gov’t embarks on mass registration of 36 million Kenyans into Social Health Authority

The Ministry of Interior’s National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) will be on the frontline in the push to register Kenyans into the Social Health Authority (SHA) ahead of its roll out next week.

The officers will use the same approach they used to register 6 million farmers into the subsidised fertiliser program.

The collaboration between the ministries of Interior and Health comes as the government seeks to enroll 12 million households into the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme during the first phase of its implementation.

“NGAOs are wired to deliver…Just like we delivered in the registration of farmers for the subsidised fertiliser programme at minimal cost, we are ready to deliver in the UHC registration effectively and at minimal cost,” said Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki during a collaborative meeting at the Kenya School of Government on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Interior has availed its officers right from the sub locations to the eight regions. They will be charged with the responsibility of coordinating the registration of Kenyans for UHC.

They will be expected to take advantage of their network coverage, spanning eight regions, 47 counties all the way down to over nine thousand sub locations to encourage Kenyans to register en masse.

Health CS Dr. Deborah Barasa stated: “The reason we are here today is because of your tremendous work, experience, the good connections, the prompt sensitisation that you have been able to do at community level. We really need your expertise so that we can sensitive the community the priority now right now is to register.”

The Ministry of Health aims to register 12 million households, translating into at least 38 million people into the SHA.

Already, 1.6 million people have been registered, with the ministry maintaining that the registration into SHA isn’t optional.

“Every Regional Commissioner will be responsible for their region, the returns from your regions must be provided daily, it will be your responsibility…every County Commissioner the same…the 12 million target will be met,” added CS Kindiki.

Medical Services Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai noted: “The benefits of registration is that it will enable us to know who are the indigents so that the government can pay for them…that is why the registration is mandatory. We are implementing the Act as it is.”

But as the push for the registration gathers steam, the government is also asking its officers to help fight what it terms as misinformation that could threaten the public’s buy in of SHA.

“At the community level, the information coverage is not very good, on social media there is a lot that could affect the SHA,” said CS Barasa.

The two ministries now say they will work to ensure that provision of UHC, one of the government’s key agenda, is successfully rolled out.