Judge orders NHIF, Mututho firm to seek out of court settlement

Former MP John Mututho. [File, Standard]

The High Court on Monday ordered the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) Board to consider settling a multi-million dispute with a firm owned by former MP John Mututho.

Justice Josephine Mong’are on Monday directed that the board should honour its end of the bargain by signing the contract issued to Jomec Limited for treating alcoholics and drug addicts.

Jomec had moved to court seeking to have the NHIF board and Chief Executive Officer Elijah Wachira jailed for disobeying court orders.

In the case, Jomec claimed that the national health insurer had declined to obey court orders issued in January 2024.

The orders were issued following a consent entered between the private firm and NHIF. 

NHIF agreed to pay the firm Sh188 million as a one-off payment for medical services.

However, Jomec’s lawyer Kimani Wachira told the court that NHIF was defiant which prompted his client to sue.

“No legal justification has been tendered by the Respondent and the contemnor for their disobedient conduct, and in the absence of legitimate grounds, the respondent and contemnor's disobedience may properly be described as being contemptuous,” argued Wachira.

Jomec is a Level 3b health facility. It is licensed by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board as a nursing home. 

In the case, the court heard that NHIF had relied upon the decision by the Kenya Kwanza regime to close shop in order to pave the way for the new pet project, Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

"In alignment with these guidelines, the NHIF Board has aligned the contracting authority to its mandate to wind up the Fund under the First Schedule of the Social Health Insurance Act. As a result, the Fund is unable to enter into a new contract for the provision of healthcare services. However, your client Messrs Jomec will be engaged during the next contracting cycle," NHIF wrote to Jomec.

In court, Jomec argued that NHIF was aware of its existing obligations and concessions in court with other parties.

The firm asserted that the transition to the new health system had not commenced, hence the insurer ought to honour its agreement.

In his supporting affidavit, Mututho stated that although Social Health Insurance Act came into place on November 22, 2023, the NHIF board was still engaging health suppliers and entering into contracts as late as two months ago.

He told the court that the uncertainty created by the insurer had dealt his firm a huge blow as it had also engaged other contractors for service delivery.