Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has strongly defended himself against claims that he benefited from the scandal at the Social Health Authority (SHA). Health CS Aden Duale dismissed calls for his resignation over scandal at SHA. Photo: Aden Duale. Source: Facebook On Wednesday, August 27, a section of lawmakers linked Duale to the multi-billion-dollar scandal at SHA. The lawmakers, under the banner of Kenya Moja, demanded that Duale resign within 48 hours, claiming his company was among those irregularly paid millions by SHA.
Does Aden Duale own SHA affiliated firm? However, in his response, the Health CS denied owning any company providing services to SHA. Duale challenged the legislators, led by Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna, to provide any document linking him to the company cited in their statement. The former National Assembly Majority leader declared that he was ready to appear before any parliamentary committee to account for all his assets, insisting that he has not benefited from the SHA millions. “My career in public service spans over 20 years, a significant portion of which was spent in the corridors of Parliament in various leadership roles. My records on integrity and declaration of assets are a matter of public record, detailed in the Hansard from my vetting process. I challenge any individual to present a CR12 document from the Registrar of Companies that shows my ownership or directorship in the company alleged. I have none. I am ready and willing to present myself before any parliamentary committee or oversight body to account for every asset I own,” Duale said.
Duale called on Kenyans to allow him and his team to remove the deep-rooted fraud in the health insurance sector without any interference. “To remove the deep-rooted fraud within health insurance, we urge all Kenyans to allow us to clean up, prosecute and surcharge those found culpable without interference from anybody or any office, including my former colleagues, some of whom own facilities that have been flagged through our system, he added.” Who is Abdi Mohamed? The Health CS further defended the embattled SHA board chairperson, Abdi Mohamed, who has been accused of conflict of interest.
According to Duale, the Kenya Moja lawmakers were targeting Mohamed because of his ethnic background and not because of his qualifications. “Regarding the chairperson of the SHA board, it is public knowledge that the Metropolitan Group PLC, has already issued a public statement clarifying that he has no ownership, directorship or management role in Ladnan Hospital. This witch hunt reeks of ethnic profiling, and we call upon the legislators to see the chairman for what he is: a qualified Kenyan dedicated to public service. We must not allow the noble goal of Universal Health Coverage to be derailed by unwarranted politicisation and the trivialization of issues,” the Health CS said.
By Amos Khaemba
