Jayesh Umesh Saini is the beneficial owner of Medical Administrators (K) Ltd (MAKL) and Bliss Healthcare (K) Ltd, which are at the centre of the Sh55 billion teachers’ medical insurance controversy, the Nation can reveal.
The two companies that trace their ownership to the United Arab Emirates play a significant role in the Sh55 billion teachers’ medical health insurance scheme, which has recently imploded in controversy after some hospitals withdrew services to teachers citing pay arrears.
The medical scheme is managed through a consortium of insurance companies that is led by Minet Kenya Insurance Brokers Limited as the lead consortium member and coordinator.
MAKL acts as the medical administrator of the scheme and is responsible for contracting hospitals that provide medical services to teachers and payment of their bills. Bliss Healthcare is the master capitator and has a network of 63 clinics across the country. It is in charge of capitation and contracts and signs third-party partnerships with service providers where it does not have a presence through MAKL.
MAKL was incorporated on December 7, 2018. It is owned by Bliss Healthcare (K) Ltd, which owns all its 1,000 shares. Madni Ali Asif Ansari is listed as the only director of MAKL, while Lenah Chelangat is listed as the company secretary.
Bliss Healthcare (K) Ltd was incorporated on December 6, 2019. The firm is owned by UAE-registered Bliss Healthcare and Administrators LLC, which holds all 1,000 shares. Mr Ansari is the sole director of the UAE firm.
When suing activist Nelson Amenya in France, Mr Jayesh Saini described himself as the owner of Bliss Healthcare, which he said runs over 60 clinics across Kenya, and Dinlas Pharma, which was behind the importation of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V.
Under the teachers’ medical cover arrangement, the insurance cover benefits of the scheme are provided by six underwriters — Old Mutual Kenya, Britam, CIC Insurance, Pioneer Insurance, Star Discover General Insurance, and Star Life Insurance.
Mr Saini has also been linked to one of the firms behind the Sh104.8 billion digital platform that a consortium led by Safaricom PLC is supplying the government under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Other firms in the consortium are Apeiro Ltd, a firm owned by the UAE royal family, and Kenya’s Konvergenz Network Solutions.
Mr Rufus Marundu Maina, a director in other companies associated with Mr Saini such as Lifecare Hospitals, is holding similar positions in two companies incorporated by Apeiro for the Sh104.8 billion deal. Mr Maina is a director in Apeiro Kenya Technologies Ltd and SIH Africa Ltd. SIH Africa owns all 1,000 shares in Apeiro Kenya Technologies Ltd.
Apeiro directors, without any shares, are Mr Maina, Inder Deep Singh Virdi, Judy Mwende Gatabaki, and Aswanth Bindhu Lambodaran. Ms Gatabaki is an IT professional and wife of David Ndii, one of President Ruto’s trusted economic advisors.
At SIH, Mr Lambodaran and Nishant Mishra own 500 shares each, in trust. Mr Maina is a director in the company, but with no shares.
SIH Africa and Apeiro are subsidiaries of Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, Sirius International Holding. Sirius is a subsidiary of IHC, and were both incorporated on July 5, 2024.
The teachers’ medical insurance cover is meant to expire in November 2025, but a failure by the National Treasury to pay Sh9 billion in premiums since September 2024 has put their health at risk.
As a result, some hospitals contracted by MAKL have withdrawn their services and teachers are now asked to seek treatment in facilities still willing to do so. Teachers the Nation spoke to told of the suffering they go through, including delayed approvals for treatment even in emergencies.
“A colleague had an accident and the doctor recommended surgery, but he couldn’t do it before the approval was done. Three days later, our colleague was still waiting and hoping that he gets an approval from AoN Minet. Teachers are like third class citizens in this country,” a teacher from Kisumu lamented.
Ms Martha Omollo, who teaches in Nairobi, complained that although the medical insurance cover has good intentions, its implementation over the years has been problematic.
“Teachers are being deducted for SHA-SHIF but when you go to SHA, they say Minet is the teachers’ premium insurer while Minet also wants SHA to deal with the situation,” she said.
Ms Omollo has a case pending in court against the scheme, but says she suspended it for lack of finances to prosecute it.
“Teachers have been stretched beyond the elastic limit and that’s why they’re now complaining. We’ve written to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and copied the letter to Minet Insurance Broker and the National Treasury but they haven’t responded yet,” said Moses Nthurima, the deputy secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers.
