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A proposal by Safaricom-led consortium to develop a Sh104.8 billion tech platform for the controversial universal healthcare insurance was cleared in a record one day.
Documents filed in court show that Safaricom sent the request for proposal to the Health ministry on May 15 and a letter of notification to award the consortium the multi-billion shilling deal given the following day.
Projects of this magnitude, which requires multiple approvals across agencies and ministries, often take months for approvals.
The Ministry of Health had informed the Safaricom backed consortium on May 19 to submit a bid in the single sourced tender.
This contrasts with earlier statements that the deal on the use of technology and Safaricom in the provision of affordable healthcare to all citizens had been in the works for over two years.
Safaricom has partnered with Konvergenz Network Solutions Limited and Apeiro Limited in a contract to provide the integrated healthcare information technology system (IHTS) for the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.
Each of the three firms will contribute to the Sh104.8 billion needed to implement, maintain and support the IHTS system over the next 10 years based on their shareholding.
Konvergenz Network Solution informed the court, where the firm is fighting for implementation of the deal following a petition to stop it, that the consortium submitted its technical and financial proposal on May 15, 2024.
“By a notification of intention to award dated May 16, 2024, the Ministry of Health notified the sixth respondent of its intention to award the contract to the Safaricom Consortium, based on our technical and financial proposals, subject to the successful conclusion of negotiations on the draft contract,” the documents filed in court stated.
About a month later, on June 19, 2024, the ministry awarded the contract to Safaricom consortium.
Konvergenz Network Solution reckoned that it accepted the deal on August 2 and a week later on August 9 the Ministry of Health and the consortium signed the contract.
Adil Khawaja, Safaricom chair, had earlier said the UHC programme was already in place even before he was appointed the chairman of Safaricom.
“This programme was started by former president Uhuru Kenyatta and it is only now that we are seeing its implementation. A lot of background work had been done for the last two years,” said the lawyer.
President William Ruto has approved controversial legislation for UHC in October last year triggering the biggest shake-up of the health sector in more than 20 years.
His plan revolves around promoting universal healthcare and requires all workers to contribute 2.75 percent of their salaries towards a new health fund. It takes effect this month.
The government says it will make healthcare under the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) more affordable and accessible for poorer Kenyans.
But it has proved unpopular with many Kenyans, who see it as a new tax.
The SHIF replaces the decades-old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), which has lost billions of taxpayer-contributed funds to corruption. Critics fear that the new social healthcare body will spend most of the collected funds on administrative expenses like the current NHIF, leaving few resources for direct healthcare costs.
The National Assembly Health Committee cleared the Safaricom tech deal, but a petition filed by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and two others, seeks the nullification of the contract arguing that it was procured fraudulently.
The consortium has defended the contract arguing that it would save taxpayers’ money.
Konvergenz said had the government gone for the traditional route of purchasing the entire system, Kenyans would have borne the higher cost that would come with the purchase of multiple licenses as well as extra costs for maintenance and upgrade of the system.
Mr Abdullahi Abdi, a director of Konvergenz, said the three petitioners have brought claims of fraud to mislead the court. He said the consortium would make an initial investment of Sh34 billion in two years and that it has offered the ministry a first six months ‘payment holiday’.
Mr Abdi said the consortium was carrying out preliminary works as provided in the contract and some aspects are up and running, including the platform for registration to SHIF.
“However, the under the SaaS (software-as-a-service) model, Safaricom Consortium will be responsible for the delivery of the software and the provisioning, maintenance, replacement and lifecycle management of the infrastructure in accordance with the technical specifications, ” he said.
Konvergenz say the platform will link the national core digital health services to the healthcare providers both at the national and county governments’ level, Social Health Authority (SHA), Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa), the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, interconnecting various services and providing interoperability.
“This involved the creation and implementation of a digital ecosystem with interconnected healthcare information technologies including provision of ICT infrastructure, both software and hardware (laptops, tablets, servers) and secure IT connectivity to operate the digital ecosystem across all public healthcare activities,” said Mr Abdi.
The firm said the payments to the consortium are expected to be generated through the use of the system and various other avenues such as license fees and other monies by the procuring entity or other relevant government health agencies and are pegged on the user of the system so that if the system does not function, no payment are due.
“The project is self-funding and no payments will be drawn from the Consolidated Fund,” said Mr Abdi.
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