Ruto suffers another setback after Court of Appeal declines to lift orders Social Health Insurance Act
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Court of Appeal declines to lift orders stopping implementation of Social Health Insurance Act in another blow to Ruto administration
Court of Appeal declines to lift orders stopping implementation of Social Health Insurance Act in another blow to Ruto administration.
The Court of Appeal’s decision on Wednesday to not lift the orders halting the Ministry of Health’s introduction of the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 until January 19, 2024 dealt a serious another blow to the government.
The CS Health Susan Nakhumicha pleaded with a three-judge bench made up of justices Patrick Kiage, Pauline Nyamweya, and Ngenye Macharia to set aside the High Court orders that stopped the new health plan until after their substantive decision on her appeal on Friday of next week.
However, the plea was denied by the Court of Appeal.
“We decline to issue any orders at this point on this appeal pending our ruling on the lengthy submission made by the parties. We will render our ruling on Friday, January 19, 2024,” Justice Kiage stated.
This is after Nakhumicha through Senior Counsel Fred Ngatia urged the court to consider issuing temporary reliefs as they retire to write their ruling to alleviate the burden being experienced by patients countrywide owing to the effect the order has had.
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“I urge you to kindly consider the thousands of patients who are suffering in the country as they seek treatment. We are in a lacuna and please find favour and set aside the orders, let those in hospitals deal with diseases and not be part of this legal battle…it is for the benefit of Kenyans who rely on this national insurance,” Ngatia informed the court.
However, the petitioners’ activist Joseph Enock and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) strongly opposed the application sought by the government arguing that there is no lacuna.
Led by lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui they urged the appellant judges not to vacate the orders as the same are properly issued by the court after considering their petitions.
Kinyanjui told the judges that the Social Health Insurance Act 2023 is unconstitutional since the Executive usurped the role of the Parliament when enacting the new law.
He stated that there was no proper public participation before the said law was enacted and therefore should not be implemented.
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