In the headlines
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It's Me Scumbag
Elder Lister
Lobbying at work...negatively,neegas in parliament let this bill expire.
wrongturn
Elder Lister
Watu alijikaranga, moses kuria ,tps, mbus will now join hustler too as coalition partners.
nation.africa
What you need to know:
The new law opens a battlefront that will see each of the current three major political formations; Azimio La Umoja, One Kenya Alliance (OKA) and Kenya Kwanza jostling to form the most formidable coalition party to deliver an electoral win.
While the initial intention of drafting the amendments was to bring together up to 15 parties backing the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja formation, the law has handed a lifeline to the former prime minister’s political opponents who are now planning to also reap big from its provisions by inviting coalition partners.
You’re forming a coalition party; we are also forming a coalition party. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander,” Senator Johnson Sakaja, who now backs the Deputy President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza Alliance, said in his contribution to the debate on the floor of the Senate.
The Bill, which President Kenyatta signed into law yesterday after it sailed through the Senate, introduces coalition political parties that can conduct joint nominations for various electoral seats and support a single presidential candidate, while at the same time retaining their different identities, with no need to dissolve into one outfit.
President Kenyatta’s Jubilee was in 2012 formed by the dissolution of 12 parties that merged into one, while Mr Odinga’s National Super Alliance; comprising five different parties, failed spectacularly in its bid for joint nominations, losing key parliamentary and county seats in the process.
As Mr Odinga now swings into action to formalise his partnership with the supporting political parties led by President Kenyatta’s Jubilee next week, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the OKA formation will also get an opportunity to regroup and go into the 2022 State House race as a bigger teams.
Sponsors of Kenya’s political parties have long harboured fears of folding up their outfits to form coalitions, as dissolution makes them lose their identities.
Presidential bid
Elimination of this fear opens a fresh window for negotiations and coalitions building for the August race.
DP Ruto, who on Sunday teamed up with Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula, has already started marketing the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
The Nation has learnt that the ‘Kenya Kwanza’ coalition name was reserved with the Registrar of Political Parties in October last year by allies of Mr Mudavadi, giving the new formation a ready name that will only go through the legal motions of formalisation.
OKA, which now has Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper, Gideon Moi’s Kanu, and Cyrus Jirongo’s United Democratic Party, has already reached out to Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya, Justin Muturi’s Democratic Party (DP), and billionaire businessman Jimi Wanjigi, following the exits of Mr Mudavadi and Mr Wetang’ula.
Mr Musyoka yesterday said OKA was “re-energised”, planning a bigger coalition, and was ready to go all the way to the ballot.
“OKA is stronger than ever before. We have lost two (principals), but gained four. We will remain as OKA to the tape. There are no two horses in this presidential election. We want to tell them: The Buffalo Soldier is here. And we are coming for you!” Mr Musyoka told a rally in his Kitui backyard, making reference to the story of African soldiers in Native America said to have fought so valiantly and fiercely, they were feared like the animal.
OKA has announced a rally in Ms Karua’s Kirinyaga County on Sunday, after a series of rallies in Mr Musyoka’s Ukambani backyard, in what they say is confirmation of their continued presence in the race.
For Mr Musyoka and the OKA team, a presidential bid with such a team expands their horizon and complicates chances for DP Ruto and Mr Odinga, in what analysts say might force a run-off in that no candidate will surpass the 50 per cent plus one vote threshold set by the Constitution for a first-round win.
The entry of Mr Wanjigi, thought to have been a key financier of Mr Odinga’s 2017 campaigns, as well as Ms Karua and Mr Muturi, also opens up to OKA the vote-rich Mt Kenya region.
Huge political capital
The mountain region is integral in DP Ruto’s State House plan and in Mr Odinga’s eyes to boost his chances of a win following the camaraderie with President Kenyatta.
Similarly, the new law also opens doors for DP Ruto to enter into fresh agreements with Mt Kenya-based parties, including Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria’s Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) and former Agriculture minister Mwangi Kiunjuri’s The Service Party (TSP), both of which were allied to the DP, but had drifted off after the deputy president demanded they fold their parties to join his United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Already, Mr Kuria has given the strongest hint yet that he might be willing to come back to the DP’s table, after the passing of the political parties law.
“Azimio is a bad idea, fronted by the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons. Its fate is Jehanum and Judgement Day is here,” Mr Kuria said on Wednesday.
And with the Bill now signed into law, Mr Odinga, who pushed for its passing, as well as OKA and DP Ruto, are now free to engage the fringe, regional parties, with no requirement for their dissolution and with an opportunity to craft a nominations agreement that boosts their chances at the presidency.
“Politics is strange. President Kenyatta and Raila spent huge political capital and state resources to pass the Political Parties Bill so that Hon Mudavadi, Musyoka and Wetang’ula are accommodated in Raila's ODM and DP Ruto is isolated. The Bill is passed. Ruto will use it to accommodate all,” Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, who often comments on politics, said on Twitter.
In the end, it seems, no one party might dare go it alone in the 2022 campaign, and with the new law paving way for the sweetening of deals with regional parties, presidential candidates are back to the drawing board in a race that President Kenyatta has thrown back to the ring.
“Kalonzo and I have said we will stick with OKA. We have agreed: Where one goes, all go. I want to ask you to give him the space to negotiate for you. He has your interests at heart,” Senator Moi told OKA’s Kitui rally yesterday.
Uhuru’s assent to coalition parties bill opens new political battlefront
New law will see each of the current three major political formations jostling to form the most formidable coalition party.
nation.africa
What you need to know:
- Initial intention of the amendments was to bring together up to 15 parties backing Azimio la Umoja outfit.
- Law has handed a lifeline to DP Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza team, which now plans to also reap big from its provisions.
The new law opens a battlefront that will see each of the current three major political formations; Azimio La Umoja, One Kenya Alliance (OKA) and Kenya Kwanza jostling to form the most formidable coalition party to deliver an electoral win.
While the initial intention of drafting the amendments was to bring together up to 15 parties backing the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja formation, the law has handed a lifeline to the former prime minister’s political opponents who are now planning to also reap big from its provisions by inviting coalition partners.
You’re forming a coalition party; we are also forming a coalition party. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander,” Senator Johnson Sakaja, who now backs the Deputy President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza Alliance, said in his contribution to the debate on the floor of the Senate.
The Bill, which President Kenyatta signed into law yesterday after it sailed through the Senate, introduces coalition political parties that can conduct joint nominations for various electoral seats and support a single presidential candidate, while at the same time retaining their different identities, with no need to dissolve into one outfit.
President Kenyatta’s Jubilee was in 2012 formed by the dissolution of 12 parties that merged into one, while Mr Odinga’s National Super Alliance; comprising five different parties, failed spectacularly in its bid for joint nominations, losing key parliamentary and county seats in the process.
As Mr Odinga now swings into action to formalise his partnership with the supporting political parties led by President Kenyatta’s Jubilee next week, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the OKA formation will also get an opportunity to regroup and go into the 2022 State House race as a bigger teams.
Sponsors of Kenya’s political parties have long harboured fears of folding up their outfits to form coalitions, as dissolution makes them lose their identities.
Presidential bid
Elimination of this fear opens a fresh window for negotiations and coalitions building for the August race.
DP Ruto, who on Sunday teamed up with Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula, has already started marketing the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
The Nation has learnt that the ‘Kenya Kwanza’ coalition name was reserved with the Registrar of Political Parties in October last year by allies of Mr Mudavadi, giving the new formation a ready name that will only go through the legal motions of formalisation.
OKA, which now has Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper, Gideon Moi’s Kanu, and Cyrus Jirongo’s United Democratic Party, has already reached out to Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya, Justin Muturi’s Democratic Party (DP), and billionaire businessman Jimi Wanjigi, following the exits of Mr Mudavadi and Mr Wetang’ula.
Mr Musyoka yesterday said OKA was “re-energised”, planning a bigger coalition, and was ready to go all the way to the ballot.
“OKA is stronger than ever before. We have lost two (principals), but gained four. We will remain as OKA to the tape. There are no two horses in this presidential election. We want to tell them: The Buffalo Soldier is here. And we are coming for you!” Mr Musyoka told a rally in his Kitui backyard, making reference to the story of African soldiers in Native America said to have fought so valiantly and fiercely, they were feared like the animal.
OKA has announced a rally in Ms Karua’s Kirinyaga County on Sunday, after a series of rallies in Mr Musyoka’s Ukambani backyard, in what they say is confirmation of their continued presence in the race.
For Mr Musyoka and the OKA team, a presidential bid with such a team expands their horizon and complicates chances for DP Ruto and Mr Odinga, in what analysts say might force a run-off in that no candidate will surpass the 50 per cent plus one vote threshold set by the Constitution for a first-round win.
The entry of Mr Wanjigi, thought to have been a key financier of Mr Odinga’s 2017 campaigns, as well as Ms Karua and Mr Muturi, also opens up to OKA the vote-rich Mt Kenya region.
Huge political capital
The mountain region is integral in DP Ruto’s State House plan and in Mr Odinga’s eyes to boost his chances of a win following the camaraderie with President Kenyatta.
Similarly, the new law also opens doors for DP Ruto to enter into fresh agreements with Mt Kenya-based parties, including Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria’s Chama Cha Kazi (CCK) and former Agriculture minister Mwangi Kiunjuri’s The Service Party (TSP), both of which were allied to the DP, but had drifted off after the deputy president demanded they fold their parties to join his United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Already, Mr Kuria has given the strongest hint yet that he might be willing to come back to the DP’s table, after the passing of the political parties law.
“Azimio is a bad idea, fronted by the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons. Its fate is Jehanum and Judgement Day is here,” Mr Kuria said on Wednesday.
And with the Bill now signed into law, Mr Odinga, who pushed for its passing, as well as OKA and DP Ruto, are now free to engage the fringe, regional parties, with no requirement for their dissolution and with an opportunity to craft a nominations agreement that boosts their chances at the presidency.
“Politics is strange. President Kenyatta and Raila spent huge political capital and state resources to pass the Political Parties Bill so that Hon Mudavadi, Musyoka and Wetang’ula are accommodated in Raila's ODM and DP Ruto is isolated. The Bill is passed. Ruto will use it to accommodate all,” Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, who often comments on politics, said on Twitter.
In the end, it seems, no one party might dare go it alone in the 2022 campaign, and with the new law paving way for the sweetening of deals with regional parties, presidential candidates are back to the drawing board in a race that President Kenyatta has thrown back to the ring.
“Kalonzo and I have said we will stick with OKA. We have agreed: Where one goes, all go. I want to ask you to give him the space to negotiate for you. He has your interests at heart,” Senator Moi told OKA’s Kitui rally yesterday.
Jug
Elder Lister
Of late network imekuwa sh*t to say the least, kumbe watu walikuwa washa secure the bag
Clemens
Elder Lister
@wrongturn hiyo article ya NHIF unaweza pata? Huku mashinani gazeti can be found 76 Kilometres away.
wrongturn
Elder Lister
@Clemens ndo hiyo
What you need to know:
- Private hospitals says new contracts were hurriedly executed without adequate time for perusal.
- The hospitals have also refused to adopt the new dialysis fees reviewed in the new contract.
Dr Timothy Olweny, secretary general, KPHA, said the new contracts were hurriedly executed without adequate time for perusal, and implementation would be counterproductive.
He said in the new contract for the year 2022 to 2024 which they have not had a chance to look at, the input of private hospitals was not sought, save for a few providers and the contents of the contracts currently being circulated for execution will not work for them.
The documents seen by the Nation, dictate what the doctors are supposed to charge, the cost of the procedures and what other specialists should be paid.
“The charges are even lower than what was proposed by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council in 2016. We are not going to sign the contract until they are reviewed,” Dr Olweny said.
New dialysis fees
For instance, in the new contract, for appendectomy (a surgical operation to remove the appendix) the combined rate proposed by the NHIF suggests that doctors’ fees and hospital charges should not exceed Sh40,000. However, under KMPDC guidelines, doctors’ fees range between Sh60,000 and Sh120,000, while anaesthetists are allocated Sh20,000.
For haemorrhoid surgery (to remove swollen blood vessels inside or around the anus and rectum) KMPDC guidelines for doctors’ fees is from Sh70,000 to Sh150,000; but for NHIF, the services should not exceed Sh24,000.
For removal of tonsils, the insurer says the fees should not exceed Sh32,000, however, private hospital doctors have been charging between Sh60,000 and Sh120,000.
The 2016 KMPDC fee guidelines are overdue for review.
The hospitals have also refused to adopt the new dialysis fees reviewed in the new contract -- Sh6,500, down from Sh9,500.
The NHIF has indicated in the new contract that it will increase the frequency of dialysis sessions from the current two to three a week to be in line with international standards, but has reduced the reimbursement by Sh3,000, which means patients will have to pay the difference.
“NHIF is not only unfair to patients, but also to hospitals, which spend a lot of their resources in offering the specialised care. Many patients will suffer since the majority of the dialysis centres are in the private sector. The private hospitals have 142 dialysis centres with only 54 in public hospitals and 17 in faith-based facilities,” said Dr Olweny.
Healthcare providers
He said the medical benefit packages were developed without proper stakeholders’ involvement and have the impact of lowering the quality of healthcare services to the public if implemented as proposed.
“A case in point is the cutting of the number of sessions that NHIF will pay for dialysis of renal patients without due consideration of the outcome of the treatment for these vulnerable groups. Stakeholders to be involved in formulating sound medical benefits package that will guarantee affordable quality health service delivery,” he said.
Even before the hospitals arrived at the decision to bar NHIF card holders, the key stakeholders in the healthcare service delivery and hospital associations made concerted efforts to engage the NHIF management to get an insight into the changes proposed in the contracts for the 2022-2024 period as is customary, to no avail.
“To date, we have not been formally provided with any draft contract documents that would form the basis of meaningful stakeholder engagement or public participation as required by law. It is against this backdrop that we are gravely concerned by reports that the NHIF has unilaterally proceeded to issue contracts to some of our member facilities for summary execution, in certain instances within a 24-hour period,” he said.
He said the process of developing the contracts was unprocedural, lacking the meaningful engagement of healthcare providers, and with only four days left to the expiry of the extended contract, Kenyans would be on their own.
Dr Olweny said that the initial contract, for three years, expired in June last year and was to be renewed in July until June 2024.
However, all they have been getting are one-month extension contracts from the fund.
Quality health care
Before a contract is signed, stakeholders, including hospitals have to receive the draft for perusal and review it, then give the final position before it is adopted. This should be done before the expiry of the contract.
“When the contract was about to expire, I requested the review of the new contract but we were told that the board of management at the fund had to go through the draft before it was shared,” Dr Olweny said.
The draft was never shared and all they had from the NHIF chief executive officer, Dr Peter Kamunyo, was an extension of the contract until January 31, 2022.
“The current re-contracting exercise is expansive in breadth and complexity and the fund is committed to ensuring that health care providers sign a contract that reflects the mutual interest of offering access to quality health care to Kenyans,” Dr Kamunyo said.
Dr Kamunyo recommends that the contracting process be halted with immediate effect until their associations formally receive copies of the draft contracts as currently prepared, peruse the contents, engage members, get legal advice as required, engage NHIF as required and have their concerns addressed.
“Only after inclusion of our concerns will we communicate an informed advisory opinion to our member facilities,” he said.
The NHIF management was yet to respond to the Nation’s questions by the time of going to press.
Clemens
Elder Lister
Thanks