A group of Members of Parliament (MPs) disclosed on Thursday, November 7, that they have encountered significant challenges enrolling in the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), managed by the Social Health Authority (SHA), since its launch a month ago.

The MPs shared their experiences during a session with Ministry and SHA officials, who were called to the National Assembly Health Committee to address concerns about the SHIF system's performance.

Moyale MP Jaldesa Guyo reported issues with registering using his national ID, describing it as a common problem faced by Kenyans. “Even now, my ID number doesn’t go through, and this reflects what many Kenyans are experiencing,” he said.

Webuye East MP Martin Wanyonyi echoed these frustrations, noting delays with the One-Time Password (OTP) feature, which he described as “really frustrating.” Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino cited frequent system failures when attempting to log in, contradicting SHA’s assurances that the system was fully operational. “When I try to log in, it says system failed. You told us the system was complete—maybe define what complete means,” he challenged.

Owino also cautioned that these issues, if unresolved, could cascade to the national level. “If it’s failing here, it’ll fail up to Level Six,” he warned.

In response, the health committee made several recommendations to facilitate smoother registration. A key proposal was for SHA to set up help desks in all 290 constituencies to address enrollment issues more directly.

Dagoretti MP Beatrice Elachi suggested that SHA should leverage community health workers at the constituency level to assist Kenyans, recommending a two-week timeline to resolve the registration challenges. “SHA community health workers can help with registration. Let’s aim to fix this within two weeks,” she urged.

Additionally, committee chair Endebess MP Robert Pukose proposed that Parliament collaborate with the Ministry to help MPs register for SHIF. He argued this would better equip MPs to explain the registration process to their constituents. “If the ministry works with the National Assembly clerk to register MPs, it will be easier for us to guide our constituents on the new process,” he concluded.