In a decisive move to champion the welfare of public servants, Bungoma Senator David Wakoli has petitioned the Senate to provide a comprehensive status report on the medical insurance scheme for Bungoma County Government Executive workers.
Rising on the floor of the Senate pursuant to Standing Order 53(1), the Senator sought a formal statement from the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare to address growing concerns regarding the transparency and efficacy of the current healthcare cover.
Senator Wakoli’s intervention underscores his commitment to ensuring that the backbone of Bungoma’s service delivery, its workforce, is protected by a reliable and functional insurance framework.
In his request, the Bungoma Senator demanded full disclosure of the scheme’s administration, stating that the Committee must reveal “the name of the current underwriter and provide details of any insurance brokerage firm(s) involved in facilitating or managing the medical scheme.”
He emphasized that accountability in the management of these funds is non-negotiable for the benefit of the employees and their families.
Beyond administrative details, the Senator pushed for a granular look at the actual value of the policy for the beneficiaries.
He specifically requested an outline of the scope of benefits under the policy, including in-patient, out-patient, maternity, dental, optical, last expense, chronic illness cover, and any other additional benefits, as well as the cover limits per family and per beneficiary.
By seeking this level of detail, Senator Wakoli aims to ensure that no worker is left stranded at a hospital due to ambiguous terms or inadequate coverage limits.
To ensure fiscal responsibility and accessibility, the Senator further called for a breakdown of the financial commitments involved.
His request for a statement seeks to uncover the total annual premium payable for the policy, including breakdown per employee (if applicable), the source of funding endorsements, and provide a summary of the current policy framework.
Additionally, he requested for a verified list of all authorized medical providers on the panel to ensure that clinics and pharmacies are actually accessible to staff across the county.
This legislative action serves as a firm reminder that the rights and health of Bungoma County workers remain a top priority at the national level.
A 35-year-old woman from Orlando, Florida has been charged with attempted murder following a shooting at the home of pop superstar Rihanna, prosecutors said.
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is accused of firing a semiautomatic rifle at the singer’s Los Angeles mansion at 13:15 local time (21:15 GMT) on Sunday.
No one was injured in the shooting. Ortiz is being held on bail set at $1.875m (£1.395m), facing a possible life sentence.
Police are investigating the motive for the attack that took place while Rihanna and her rapper partner A$AP Rocky were at the home, the BBC’s US news partner CBS reports.
Ortiz has been accused of driving up to the front of the house and firing the weapon multiple times at it, before fleeing.
Her white Tesla was located about eight miles (12km) from the singer’s home at the Sherman Oaks Galleria shopping centre, where the woman was taken into custody.
“Opening fire in any populated neighbourhood is extremely dangerous, puts lives at risk and will be fully prosecuted,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
Prosecutors noted that there were people in Rihanna’s home as well as the property adjacent to it at the time of the shooting.
“This careless violence will not be tolerated in our community. Such shooters will find their next destination to be our jails and prisons,” Hochman added.
Ortiz faces multiple other charges including ten felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper.
According to CBS, the LAPD has found a series of posts on her social media mentioning Rihanna.
In one post on X, Ortiz wrote: “Are you there? … say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I’m not at.”
Video from the singer’s address shows suitcases being wheeled away on the day after the shooting.
The Barbados-born celebrity, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, rose to prominence in the early 2000s with hits like Pon de Replay and Umbrella.
She shares three children with partner A$AP Rocky, who last February was found not guilty of firing a gun at a former friend, in a trial that saw Rihanna bring her two sons to court.
DCI detectives from Meru, augmented by their KPS and APS counterparts, have taken down Jason Kobia Mucoka, 47, a dangerous ex-convict tied to a terrifying wave of violent robberies terrorizing Mutuati, Laare, Maua, and the wider Igembe environs.
Fresh out of prison after serving 15 years for murdering his own brother, the suspect wasted no time. He armed himself with an illegal firearm, recruited criminal gangs (some already in custody, others still being pursued), and brazenly threatened to shoot anyone who dared challenge him in the Kabachi area.
Acting on solid intelligence, the joint team swooped in and arrested him in a swift, decisive operation.
Under intense interrogation, the suspect cracked and led detectives straight to his hidden cache — a deadly Pachet SMG firearm loaded with six rounds of 9mm ammunition, cleverly stashed in a nearby miraa plantation just metres from his home.
The weapon and ammunition have now been secured as exhibits and are en route to the National Police Forensic Laboratory for full ballistic examination.
Jason Kobia Mucoka remains in custody and faces arraignment today on grave charges: Robbery with Violence, Illegal Possession of a Firearm and Threats to Kill.
Investigations continue relentlessly — tracing the gun’s origin, the ammunition supply chain and every accomplice still at large. These criminal networks will be dismantled piece by piece.
Volkswagen has said it will cut 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 as its profits dropped to their lowest level since 2016.
Chief executive Oliver Blume told shareholders that the cuts would take place in Germany and fall across the entire group, including Audi and Porsche.
Europe’s largest carmaker said post-tax profits had fallen by around 44% in 2025.
It said it was hit by US import tariffs, intense competition from China and high restructuring costs from the shift to electric vehicles.
The firm projects a recovery in the coming year, but its finance chief stressed that it would have to focus on “rigorously” reducing costs.
“In total, around 50,000 jobs are due to be cut by 2030 across the Volkswagen Group in Germany,” Blume said in a letter to shareholders in the firm’s annual report.
“We are operating in a fundamentally different environment,” he added.
The group had already struck a deal with unions to cut more than 35,000 jobs across the country in a “socially responsible manner” by 2030, in order to save some €15bn (£12.4bn).
Volkswagen, along with other German carmakers, has been badly affected by a decline in demand for its cars in China, previously a lucrative market.
At the same time, Chinese brands have been moving into Europe, increasing competition for sales.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on car imports has made conditions even harder.
In its annual figures, Volkswagen said its net profit after tax fell from €12.4bn (£10.7bn; $14.4bn) to €6.9bn (£6.1bn; $8bn) last year.
For 2026, Volkswagen said it predicted a core profit margin of between 4% and 5.5% – potentially lower still than the 4.6% it achieved this year.
Volkswagen finance boss Arno Antlitz warned that the group’s profit margin was “not sufficient in the long run” and said that further cost-cutting was needed.
“We can only realise this if we continue to rigorously reduce costs,” he said. “That is what we will focus on in the coming months.”
US military personnel and ground crew have been spotted preparing explosive ordnance at an airbase in Gloucestershire.
It follows US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement earlier that “today” will be the “most intense” day of US strikes on Iran with the “most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes”.
A fleet of US military planes have been stationed at RAF Fairford since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer approved “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.
Three B-52 bombers – which can carry up to 24 cruise missiles – and four B-1 lancer bombers have been spotted arriving at the Cotswold base since Friday.
RAF Fairford is one of the very few European bases certified to operate bombers like the B‑1
Air activity has increased significantly at RAF Fairford since the US was granted permission to use the base in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
And earlier, US military personnel and ground crew were seen at the base preparing the B-1 Lancer bombers for operation.
Sir Keir had initially refused to grant permission for the US to use UK bases in its joint offensive with Israel against Iran, which caused a disagreement with President Donald Trump.
But at the beginning of March, the prime minister agreed the bases could be used for the “specific and limited defensive purpose” of destroying Iran’s missiles “at source”.
RAF Fairford has one of the longest runways in the UK – at just under two miles (3km)- which makes it the preferred choice for large bombers.
In a bid to bolster its military base in the Cotswolds, the US has stationed a number of its heavy-duty bombers at the base.
The 146ft (44.5m) B-1 bomber, which weighs 86 tonnes, is the fastest bomber in the US Air Force, according to Boeing, hitting speeds of more than 900mph (1,448.4km/h).
Nicknamed “the Bone”, it has advanced radar and GPS systems to help hit targets and electronic jammers, radar warnings and a decoy system to protect it from enemies.
B-52 bombers, which came into service in the 1950s, along with C17 transporter planes carrying munitions and spare parts for the bombers have also been spotted at the base.
The UK government has not joined the US and Israel in offensive operations against Iran
On 28 February, Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran, prompting retaliatory Iranian missile and drone strikes against Israel and targets in Middle Eastern countries hosting US military bases and embassies.
The UK government has not joined the US and Israel in offensive operations against Iran.
RAF Fairford, located on the border of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, has been used by the US in the past to conduct long-range heavy bombing missions.
It is one of the very few European bases certified to operate bombers like the B‑1, B‑52 and B‑2.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Dr. Oburu Oginga has slammed critics of the 10-point agenda, defending its progress one year after President William Ruto and the late Raila Odinga signed the agreement.
Speaking at the KICC during the joint ODM-UDA Parliamentary Group briefing, Dr. Oburu commended the 10-point agenda committee, led by Agnes Zani, for what he described as significant progress within the first 12 months.
He maintained that March 7, 2026, marked an anniversary of the initiative rather than a deadline for the committee’s mandate.
“Those saying there’s nothing done on the 10-point agenda, shame on them because there’s a lot that has been done and there’s a lot to be done,” Oburu stated.
Among the key achievements he highlighted was progress on infrastructure, praising President Ruto for signing the National Infrastructure Bill into law.
The fund is designed to shift infrastructure financing towards an investment-led model that attracts private capital. It will operate as a corporate investment vehicle rather than a traditional government fund.
He added that similar financing models were used by Singapore during its early development stages to achieve first-world status.
“I’m very impressed with the agenda for infrastructure. This is the game-changer for the whole world. We’re saying we want to go to Canaan through Singapore, that Singapore used the same methods we’re using, including the Infrastructure Fund,” Oburu stated.
He further clarified that the 10-point agenda did not form the basis of the broad-based government arrangement but was meant to strengthen it.
“Broad-based government started before the 10-point agenda came. It cannot depend on the 10-point agenda which was meant to strengthen the broad-based arrangement,” he added.
His remarks come amid criticism from ODM’s Linda Mwananchi faction, which faulted the broad-based arrangement for treating March 7, 2026, as an anniversary rather than a deadline.
The faction questioned why President Ruto extended the Zani-led committee’s mandate by another 60 days, asking what progress had been made during the initial 12-month period.
“Baba they have woken up today to mock your legacy while swearing in your name. You do not have to be an English professor to understand what Baba wanted. It’s there in black and white. Progress reports to him every two months and a final report to the public last Saturday. Now they are putting words in a dead man’s mouth. Give us a signal, Jakom,” ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna stated in a post on X.
ODM Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi also criticised the broad-based arrangement, accusing it of sabotaging the agreement signed between Ruto and Raila.
Osotsi said the Linda Mwananchi faction would present an independent assessment of the 10-point agenda on Wednesday, March 11.
“ODM was founded as a people’s movement committed to democracy, justice and social reform. It would therefore be tragic if its founding ideals were subordinated to the political interests of the regime the reforms were meant to check,” Osotsi stated in part.
Reuters -Atletico Madrid tore Tottenham Hotspur apart in a stunning first-half blitz on Tuesday, powering to a 5-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and leaving the Premier League side with a mountain to climb in London.
The visitors’ 22-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky endured a night to forget on his first appearance since October and only his third of the season.
Two costly errors from the Czech helped Atletico race into a commanding lead and he was substituted in the 17th minute by manager Igor Tudor immediately after Atletico’s third goal.
Marcos Llorente struck after six minutes when Kinsky slipped while playing the ball out and Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead in the 14th when Micky van de Ven also lost his footing.
A minute later Julian Alvarez walked in the third after Kinsky miscued a clearance, the earliest a team has gone three goals up in a Champions League knockout match.
After Kinsky was replaced by Guglielmo Vicario, Atletico added a fourth when Robin Le Normand’s header crossed the line following a rebound from Griezmann’s free kick. Tottenham defender Pedro Porro reduced the deficit after 26 minutes.
Alvarez then raced from his own half to score the hosts’ fifth goal in the 55th before Dominic Solanke punished an error by Atletico keeper Jan Oblak which gifted Spurs a second goal.
“We’re very happy with the win and the three-goal lead, but there are still 90 minutes left to play on their home turf,” Alvarez told Movistar Plus.
“We know what this competition is like. Every detail counts, it’s not going to be easy, but we want to be in the quarter-finals.”
ATLETICO SEIZE CONTROL
Diego Simeone’s Atletico side needed barely a quarter of an hour at the Metropolitano stadium to seize control, scoring three times in nine chaotic minutes as Premier League strugglers Spurs unravelled in spectacular fashion.
The rout began in the sixth minute when Kinsky slipped onto his backside while attempting to play out from the back, gifting possession to Alvarez. The Argentine squared for Llorente, who steered a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Eight minutes later, defender Van de Ven also lost his footing trying to control a routine pass, leaving Griezmann free to burst into the area and drill a low shot past Kinsky.
“We’re very happy with the win and the three-goal lead, but there are still 90 minutes left to play on their home turf,” Alvarez told Movistar Plus.
“We know what this competition is like. Every detail counts, it’s not going to be easy, but we want to be in the quarter-finals.”
ATLETICO SEIZE CONTROL
Diego Simeone’s Atletico side needed barely a quarter of an hour at the Metropolitano stadium to seize control, scoring three times in nine chaotic minutes as Premier League strugglers Spurs unravelled in spectacular fashion.
The rout began in the sixth minute when Kinsky slipped onto his backside while attempting to play out from the back, gifting possession to Alvarez. The Argentine squared for Llorente, who steered a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Eight minutes later, defender Van de Ven also lost his footing trying to control a routine pass, leaving Griezmann free to burst into the area and drill a low shot past Kinsky.
Any hope of a sustained Spurs comeback was extinguished 10 minutes after the break. With the away side committed forward, Atletico broke at speed from a defensive corner.
Griezmann’s delightful touch released Alvarez from inside his own half and the forward sprinted clear before sliding a low finish beyond Vicario for his second and Atletico’s fifth.
There was still time for another twist.
In the 76th minute Oblak miscontrolled the ball while attempting to play out from the back, presenting halftime substitute Solanke with possession and the striker rifled home to give Spurs the faintest glimmer of hope.
Yet the evening belonged emphatically to Atletico, who carry a three-goal advantage into next week’s return leg in London after a display that punished every Tottenham misstep.
Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray in the Champions League last 16 first leg on Tuesday as Mario Lemina’s goal left the Reds in danger of a shock exit.
Arne Slot’s side paid the price for a disjointed display in Istanbul, with Lemina netting in the first half at raucous RAMS Park.
The six-time European champions hope to salvage a turbulent campaign by winning the Champions League for the first time since 2019.
But Liverpool, languishing in sixth place in the Premier League less than a year after winning the title, will need a second leg escape act at Anfield on March 18 to avoid arguably the lowest moment in their miserable season.
Slot won’t look back fondly on his 100th game in charge of Liverpool, who defended poorly and lacked cohesion in attack.
Mohamed Salah made his 81st Champions League appearance for Liverpool, surpassing Jamie Carragher for the most games in the competition by a Reds player.
But, not for the first time this season, it was a night to forget for the Egypt forward, who was hauled off in the 60th minute after an anonymous performance.
The Reds were beaten 1-0 by Galatasaray in the group stage in September and once again they wilted in the hostile atmosphere generated by Galatasaray’s frenzied fans.
The Turkish club’s intimidating fans famously greeted Manchester United with a ‘welcome to hell’ banner at the Istanbul airport prior to a 1993 European Cup clash.
They set the tone for another febrile environment by reprising that message on a banner before kick-off.
In their first Champions League last-16 tie since 2014, Galatasaray extended their unbeaten run in home knockout matches in the competition to 11 matches since 1973.
– Vulnerable Liverpool –
Florian Wirtz made his first Liverpool start since February 14 after a back injury.
But Wirtz wasted a chance to mark his return with a goal inside three minutes when he intercepted a wayward pass by Galatasaray keeper Ugurcan Cakir, only to drag his shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
Instead, it was Galatasaray who took the lead in the seventh minute as Liverpool’s set-piece woes proved costly once again.
Vulnerable to conceding from corners all season, Liverpool were ruthlessly exposed as Victor Osimhen climbed above Joe Gomez to flick on and former Wolves midfielder Lemina punished sloppy marking from Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez with a diving header from close-range.
Shell-shocked Liverpool were ragged at the back and Osimhen was left unmarked to head wide from 10 yards.
Slot’s men briefly sparked into life when a flowing move featuring deft passes from Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister carved open the Galatasaray defence, but Wirtz fired straight at Cakir.
Deputised for Alisson Becker, who suffered an injury in training this week, Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili had to scramble across to save Noa Lang’s curler.
Mamardashvili made another fine save to repel Davinson Sanchez’s header after the defender towered over Virgil van Dijk.
Desperately lacking rhythm and momentum, Liverpool were lucky not to be breached again when Ibrahima Konate’s sloppy mistake handed Osimhen a chance that the Nigerian blazed over.
Dominik Szoboszlai tried to lift Liverpool out of their lethargy with a blast that tested Cakir from distance immediately after half-time.
Mac Allister was guilty of a poor miss moments later, shooting wide from just inside the area.
Liverpool escaped after more shambolic defending allowed Osimhen to tap in, with Baris Alper Yilmaz ruled offside build-up even though he wasn’t interfering with play.
Ekitike squandered a golden opportunity when Cakir raced off his line to block the striker’s shot.
Even when Liverpool finally got the ball in the Galatasaray net, they were denied as VAR ruled Konate used his arm to guide Szoboszlai’s 70th minute corner past Cakir.
Encapsulating Liverpool’s night to forget, Cody Gakpo fired inches wide in the final moments.
BBC -The price of chocolate bars has shot up across the world over the past year, meaning they can feel like a luxury – yet West Africa’s cocoa farmers have not been reaping the benefit. In fact, many are in a desperate state as they have not been paid for months.
“My husband fell sick, and I couldn’t get money to take him to the hospital. So he died at home,” 52-year-old Ghanaian cocoa farmer Akosua Frimpong told the media.
Following a surge in the cost of cocoa – the main ingredient of chocolate – in 2024, prices have since crashed.
Much of the world’s cocoa is produced in Ghana and Ivory Coast, where state regulators set the price a year in advance. The recent collapse in prices has made their beans around 40% more expensive than international traders are willing to pay.
Prices have fallen for a variety of reasons, partly because a good harvest around the world came at a time of lower demand. Because of the previous high prices, chocolate bars have become smaller and chocolate makers have been using less cocoa.
The knock-on effect should mean that chocolate bars will eventually be less expensive, but it has left the cocoa industry in Ghana and Ivory Coast in a mess.
Even when prices were high, West Africa’s cocoa farmers felt they were not benefiting from the world’s chocoholics.
Their farms are in remote areas deep in the jungle with poor infrastructure – they live in villages where there is little access to electricity or running water.
The bright sunshine could not dissipate the heavy atmosphere of grief that loomed over the village of Suhenso in western Ghana when we visited last month.
Mourners squeezed into Frimpong’s home to pay their respects to her husband Malik Boahen, who had died earlier in February after his neck began to swell up.
She did not have the money to get proper medical care for him – something she blames on the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), which licenses companies to buy the country’s crop for international sale at a set price.
As those companies have not been able to sell the cocoa this year, the farmers have been left out of pocket. Cocobod has stepped in to buy much of it to save the industry from collapse, but many farmers say they haven’t been paid.
“The money I was anticipating from my cocoa bean sales is currently inaccessible. I’m a widow now and I don’t have anyone to support me,” said Frimpong.
The payment delay is thought to be affecting some 800,000 cocoa farmers – and it has had a knock-on effect on hundreds of thousands of rural livelihoods.
Last October, Cocobod set the amount to be paid to farmers at nearly $5,300 (£3,900) per tonne, but the price on the global market has fallen to well below this level.
The shortfall has added to the board’s debt, which now amounts to some $3bn.
In response to the financial difficulties, Cocobod officials took a pay cut in February – 20% for the executive management and 10% for senior staff.
The board’s spokesperson Jerome Sam acknowledged that while there had been delays in farmers getting their money, payments were now being processed.
Cocoa accounts for about 7% of Ghana’s GDP, or national income, and the beans’ export makes up around 15% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
As a result, the health of the sector has a direct effect on the wealth of the country and to help revamp it, the government has announced a raft of measures, including plans to process more of the crop in Ghana itself, rather than have the raw bean converted into chocolate and other products outside the country.
In order to resolve the current debt issue, Cocobod has now dramatically dropped the price it guarantees to farmers to close to $3,500 a tonne, even though this is still above current prices.
Robert Addae, who has been farming the cash crop for 14 years, says this is not enough.
“The prices of farm inputs and implements remain the same, the cost of labour has not reduced, so the cut in cocoa prices will adversely affect us,” the 62-year-old farmer told the media.
On average, it costs around $1,000 to maintain an acre of cocoa farm in Ghana, and many farmers are concerned they might not be able to recoup their investment.
Nana Obodie Boateng Bonsu, president of the Concerned Cocoa Farmers Association, recognises that Cocobod faces challenges but suggests their pay cuts should go towards paying farmers.
“If they were reducing their salaries to add up to our cocoa prices, that would have been brilliant,” he told the BBC.
Neighbouring Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, has been hit by similar problems.
Sacks of beans have piled up in warehouses in the town of Bangolo in the west of the country as cocoa co-operatives struggle to sell to exporters.
The country’s equivalent of Cocobod – the Coffee and Cocoa Council – also guaranteed a price last year that is now way above the international price.
On Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Bruno Kone announced that the price paid to farmers would be cut in half in order to try and boost sales.
Before that announcement, Bahily Bakouli Issiaca, a member of the Bangolo cocoa co-operative, was concerned as he inspected hundreds of cocoa beans in his warehouse.
“More than 800 cocoa farmers give their beans to us to sell, but this year it has been very difficult to sell them,” he told the media.
“Lorries full of cocoa sacks have been parked here for almost 21 days now.”
The Coffee and Cocoa Council sets the price in Ivory Coast and licenses a number of co-operatives and companies to export the dried beans.
“I harvested my cocoa and sent it to the village, but there’s no buyer. I don’t know how I’ll feed my 10 children or support their education,” Sella Aga Josiane told the BBC as she tended to her trees on a plot outside Bangolo.
The 38-year-old added that some of her children were sent home from school the week before because she could not pay their school fees.
“This crisis is tough for me.”
Ivory Coast was set to have about 200,000 tonnes of cocoa waiting for buyers by the end of March if the current situation had persisted.
Ba Siba Fabrice, another cocoa farmer near Bangolo, said it was the worst situation he had experienced since he started farming cocoa as a teenager in 2012.
The 35-year-old feels the weight of responsibility as those he supports feel he has failed them.
“Today, there is no peace between me and my family because there is no more money. When there is no money in a household, there is no peace,” he said.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has cautioned health facilities against denying treatment to patients under the Social Health Authority (SHA) due to system downtime, warning that such actions breach Kenyans’ constitutional right to healthcare.
Speaking at Afya House in Nairobi during a meeting with officials from the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), Duale directed all health facilities contracted under SHA to continue providing services even when technical disruptions occur.
The CS warned that any facility found turning away patients because of system challenges risks immediate suspension and possible termination of its contract with the authority.
During the meeting, KUPPET National Chairperson Omboko Milemba focused on the implementation of the Public Officers Medical Cover following the transition of 413,577 teachers to the SHA scheme.
To improve service delivery, Duale announced that 425 senior officers have been appointed within SHA to help manage the rollout of the scheme.
Of these, 367 officers were deployed to counties to provide on-the-ground support and assist teachers facing difficulties while accessing services at health facilities.
The Health CS also revealed that a dedicated 24-hour focal person has been assigned to handle urgent matters related to the Mwalimu Medical Cover.
Additionally, 47 county-level joint committees were formed to oversee the implementation of the teachers’ medical scheme.
The committees, chaired by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) county directors and comprising SHA managers alongside union representatives, are slated to meet quarterly to address operational challenges and enhance coordination.
The Ministry of Health also agreed to collaborate with the TSC and KUPPET to roll out a nationwide sensitisation campaign aimed at educating teachers about their medical benefits, how to access the patient portal, and how to navigate the scheme.
Duale also assured workers that their interests remain represented within the governance structure of SHA, noting that the Central Organization of Trade Unions has a seat on the authority’s board.
The remarks come amid rising tensions after KUPPET issued a seven-day strike notice over what it described as a failing SHA medical cover.
The union claimed that several teachers had been denied treatment, while others were reportedly detained in hospitals due to unpaid medical bills.
KUPPET has also urged its employer, TSC, to withdraw from the medical scheme, citing the challenges teachers have faced while seeking SHA medical care.
