City Hall workers’ medical insurance restored
The headquarters of the Nairobi City County Government along City Hall Way.
What you need to know:
- The employees had threatened to down their tools, accusing City Hall of failing to pay their insurer.
- The workers’ union said 20 of its members had died between March 16 and April 8 due to failure to access prompt medical attention.
More than 11,500 City Hall workers and their dependents will now be able to access their medical insurance cover after going a month without it following its suspension.
The county government struck a deal with AAR Insurance Kenya Limited on Friday last week to restore the county’s comprehensive medical scheme for its staff.
The county employees had on Thursday last week threatened to down their tools if City Hall failed to resolve the impasse occasioned by Nairobi's failure to pay insurance premium.
The lack of a medical cover, the workers’ union said, led to the deaths of 20 of its members between March 16 and April 8, 2021 as they could not access medical attention promptly.
Cover restoration
Following the restoration, the Kenya County Government Workers Union informed its members that the medical insurance cover had been restored.
“Kindly note that the county medical insurance cover has officially been reinstated by AAR Insurance Kenya Limited, effective this afternoon. You and your dependents can now access uninterrupted healthcare services,” Nairobi branch Secretary Festus Ngari said on Friday.
The reinstatement comes after City Hall paid Sh270 million to AAR on Thursday while pledging to clear the outstanding premium balance of Sh260 million on or before April 23, 2021.
The county government had an outstanding premium balance of Sh530 million for the financial year ending June 30, 2021.
“The second tranche of Sh270 million was paid yesterday (Thursday), leaving an outstanding balance of Sh259.9 million. This is to make a commitment that the county government undertakes to settle the remaining balance on or before April 23, 2021,” Nairobi Finance CEC Allan Igambi, said in a letter dated April 9, 2021.
“In view of the above, we plead with you to reinstate the county medical scheme to enable our desperate and suffering members and their dependents access uninterrupted healthcare services,” he added.
Bureaucracy
Last week, acting Nairobi Governor Ann Kananu blamed the delay in servicing the premium on the late passage of the county’s supplementary budget as well as bureaucracy at the office of the Controller of Budget.
The problem between City Hall and AAR began on February 12, 2021, when the latter asked the county to clear the outstanding premium balance of Sh530 million.
On March 9, a follow-up letter was sent to City Hall by AAR Insurance Limited Managing Director Nixon Shigoli, informing it that the medical scheme for City Hall staff would be suspended due to its failure to settle the balance.
The terse letter prompted Mr Igambi to respond, promising to clear the balance by April 9.
He said an initial payment of Sh325 million was settled on January 11.
