Gov’t officials hit back, rubbish Catholic Bishops statement on SHIF, CBC

The government, through the Ministries of Health, Education and Inspector General of Police has slammed the statement by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, terming it as erroneous and misleading to the public.

Statements released by Cabinet Secretaries of Health, Deborah Mulongo, her Education counterpart, Migos Ogamba and IG Douglas Kanja have blamed the bishops for disregarding significant progress made by the government on issues related to the Social Health Authority, university education funding model,  the CBC and investigations into extrajudicial killings and abductions in the country.

CS Deborah dismissed claims by the KCCB of the Ministry’s unwillingness to settle debts owed to the faith-based hospitals accrued under the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

She clarified that the government was committed to paying all debts accrued by NHIF through the newly launched SHA after the Church accused the government of failing to honour its promise to clear arrears amounting to billions.

Dr Barasa noted that so far, Ksh.7.58 billion had been set aside to pay the debt she said currently stands at Ksh.19 billion.

“The Government takes great exception to the misleading, erroneous and false statement issued by Catholic Church Bishops on obligations owed by the Government through the defunct NHIF,” stated Barasa.

“As of 4th October 2024, the defunct NHIF owed Ksh.19B to various healthcare providers, debts accrued over a period of more than 10 years.”

She added, “The Government is fully committed to settling these historical debts and consequently in the last month, Ksh. 7.58 billion was mobilised to pay these debts.”

The CS went on to point out that SHA had disbursed Ksh.5,051,202,052.30 to various providers, including Ksh.938,605,212 to Health facilities owned by faith-based organisations, the majority of which are Catholic Church-run institutions and would disburse the remaining Ksh.2.5 billion by next week.

“It is worth noting that the defunct NHIF had contracts with 8,886 facilities, encompassing public, private and faith-based organisations. 312 of these facilities are owned by faith-based organisations, representing 3.5% of all contracted providers,” she said.

Education CS Ogamba on his part took issue with the Clergy for criticizing the strides made by the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) following its inception in 2017 and the new University Funding model highlighting the progress made in both programs.

According to Ogamba, the Church errored in its description of the two programs as ‘crumbling’ since the government had already made significant progress in the implementation of both programs by investing hugely in the same.

“The introduction of the Student-Centred Funding Model followed recommendations by the Working Party. Since it was rolled out in 2023, the model has eased the financial burden in universities, which had been indebted to the tune of Ksh 70 billion, with many technically insolvent,” read a section of the statement.

“The merits of CBC and its structure have been subjected to extensive stakeholder consultation and public participation. These included the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, who participated in the work of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform.”

IG Kanja consequently faulted the Church for underlooking the work by the security agencies regarding abductions, torture, killings, and increasing murder of women in the country.

The police boss underscored the status of investigations, listing that NPS had so far made 1552 arrests countrywide in connection to the incidences and formed specialized Missing Persons Unit and Gender Desks to address rising abductions and femicides respectively.

“NPS recorded 495 injuries to police officers, 347 injuries to civilians, 42 civilian fatalities, and 69 cases of serious damage to government vehicles. In addition, there were 57 reported cases of missing persons, of which 22 were found alive,6 were found dead while 29 are still unaccounted for and serious efforts by police are underway to trace them. During the protests, NPS made 1552 arrests countrywide,” stated Kanja.

“In response to the current prevalent murder of women witnessed in the country, we have recorded 97 deaths in the past three months. In most of the cases reported, we have effectively investigated, identified the culprits and arraigned them before the court.”

He added, “All cases of deaths where police officers were implicated have been taken over by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and we are collaborating with IPOA and DPP in these investigations.  All cases of abductions are being investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and we are making good progress in that direction.”

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot also responded to KCCB saying, “It is unfortunate that religious leaders are resorting to sweeping generalities. If they have an issue with an individual leader, they should seek redress through the relevant constitutional agencies instead of condemning the entire legislature..."

His National Assembly counterpart  Kimani Ichung'wah said, “The drafter of this statement is portraying you either as liars or as politically partisan people seeking to play to a political gallery.”