- By Wycliffe Moya
- BBC News, Nairobi
President Ruto has taken a series of unpopular measures since taking office in 2022
Kenya’s Court of Appeal has given the green light to impose a controversial tax on health insurance, overturning a previous ban.
The Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), one of President William Ruto’s key policies, seeks to provide affordable healthcare to all Kenyans.
But it was unpopular with many, who viewed it as a new tax.
Critics say the tax will exacerbate the cost of living crisis, which fueled a wave of protests last year.
The Supreme Court halted the rollout of SHIF last November following a petition filed by businessman Joseph Enoch Ora, challenging parts of the scheme.
This, coupled with the suspension of the controversial housing tax, has alarmed President Ruto, who recently publicly accused some unnamed judges of corruption. He said that the judiciary was working with the opposition to obstruct his government’s projects, which sparked protests by lawyers.
The SHIF replaces the decades-old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which lost billions in taxpayer-contributed money due to corruption.
On Friday, a three-judge panel lifted the ban, saying the suspension constituted a “real and present danger to the health rights of countless citizens who are not parties to the lawsuit.”
However, the court suspended the sections requiring mandatory registration of the scheme.
All workers are expected to contribute 2.75% of their salaries to the new health fund.
The new law does not address what happens when individuals are unable to pay contributions, but President Ruto said his government would pay people who are unable.
Critics of the new health plan say the 2.75% discount represents a significant increase on what they paid into the National Health Insurance Fund, and comes on top of recent rises in fuel prices and the cost of living.
Some also fear that the new social health care authority will spend most of the money raised on administrative expenses like the current National Health Insurance Fund, leaving little resources for direct health care costs.
In June last year, Ruto signed the Finance Act, another unpopular piece of legislation, which imposed a 1.5% housing tax paid by both employers and employees.
The government says it seeks to provide affordable housing for low-income people. The tax has also been challenged in court.