Duale moves to calm teachers as State reviews Mwalimu medical scheme with unions

Health CS Aden Duale with a delegation from Knut, SHA and TSC after a meeting in his office at Afya House, March 12, 2026. /MoH

The government has stepped up efforts to resolve outstanding issues raised by teachers regarding the Mwalimu Comprehensive Medical Scheme under the Social Health Authority (SHA).

On Thursday, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale convened a meeting with the leadership of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) to assess the performance of the new enhanced cover three months after its rollout in December 2025.

The first-quarter review meeting, also attended by officials from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and SHA, followed a similar engagement on Tuesday with the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (Kuppet) called to forestall a looming crisis after the union threatened to strike.

Last Thursday, Kuppet issued a seven-day strike notice and demanded the removal of its members from the Mwalimu Medical Cover, citing its failure to provide comprehensive services to teachers.

The new scheme replaced the previous Minet cover, aiming to provide superior benefits and broader access to healthcare facilities for more than 413,577 teachers and their dependents.

However, the union said the scheme lacked several benefits teachers enjoyed under the previous cover, including ex gratia, group life cover and the last expense component.

Kuppet also raised concerns about the limited number of health facilities accredited to offer services to teachers, with reports that some hospitals were turning teachers away or detaining them over unpaid bills.

“We have teachers who could not be treated because the cover is said to have lapsed. When a teacher has stayed in the hospital for only three days, SHA says they cannot proceed to pay,” said Kuppet secretary-general Akelo Misori while calling the strike.

Health CS Aden Duale chairs a meeting with a delegation from Knut in his office at Afya House, March 12, 2026. /MoH

Following Tuesday’s meeting, Misori said the ministry had addressed key issues and provided clarity on the implementation framework for those that were pending.

"However we wish to clarify that the group life cover and the Work Injury Benefits Act provisions called WIBA are not administered by the Social Health Authority so Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Health will engage the National Treasury to create a separate budgetary allocation to cover these two other items," Duale said.

"We are now sure that with this kind of assurance, our teachers will have seamless engagement with health facilities," Misori said, promptly recalling the strike notice.

Thursday’s meeting reviewed key areas of the new scheme, including utilisation, service delivery experiences, emerging operational challenges and measures being undertaken to enhance efficiency and sustainability.

In a statement, Duale said he briefed the Knut delegation on the sustainable measures agreed upon in a joint communiqué with Kuppet aimed at strengthening the system and improving service delivery.

The CS said they also agreed to leverage Knut's nationwide network to support continuous member education, including the rollout of a 24-hour toll-free line (0800 720 601) and USSD code 147 for teachers to report complaints and seek help.

The service will complement the work of about 425 health officers who have been deployed to counties to address challenges within SHA.

"Members will also be sensitised to update their portal details, understand their enhanced Public Officers Medical Scheme Fund (POMSF) benefits compared to standard Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) benefits and use the appropriate channels during emergencies," Duale said.

Knut delegation in a meeting with Health CS Aden Duale in his office at Afya House, March 12, 2026. /MoH

While both are now managed under SHA, the POMSF is a general enhanced scheme for civil servants, whereas the Mwalimu Medical Cover is a tailored comprehensive scheme specifically for TSC employees.

Kuppet had previously favoured Minet while KNUT leaned toward the Mwalimu scheme, but the unions are now transitioning to the Mwalimu Comprehensive Scheme for uniform, quality and efficient service delivery.

"To ensure accountability and quality service delivery, we will conduct mandatory quarterly tripartite utilisation assessments to review data, monitor scheme performance and strengthen oversight of contracted healthcare providers," Duale said.

The CS added that the ministry has intensified a crackdown on fraud and corruption in the health system and will introduce a digital incident reporting mechanism to flag cases where patients are asked to pay outside SHA coverage, subjected to double billing, or denied services.

He reiterated the ministry’s continued commitment to working closely with teachers to safeguard the system and protect them from exploitation by rogue facilities.

The meeting was also attended by Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards Mary Muthoni, Director General for Health Patrick Amoth, SHA chief executive Mercy Mwangangi, Digital Health Agency chief executive Anthony Lenayara, KNUT national chairperson Patrick Munuhe and TSC representative Chrisantus Odhiambo, among other officials.