Teachers across the country will now access treatment at all Social Health Authority (SHA) accredited facilities without making additional payments following resolutions reached during a high-level consultative meeting between the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), SHA, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The resolutions were communicated in an internal memo issued by KNUT Nyando Branch Executive Secretary Ephraim Onyango K’Anang’a after the meeting held in Naivasha from May 5 to 8, 2026.
According to the memo, the meeting brought together the KNUT Secretary General, SHA Chief Executive Officer, the Health Cabinet Secretary and TSC human resource officers to address persistent concerns raised by teachers regarding access to medical services under the SHA scheme.
Among the key resolutions was the introduction of a “walk in-walk out” arrangement for teachers seeking treatment at SHA-accredited facilities.
“It is now a ‘walk-in-walk out’ by teachers at all SHA accredited facilities that is NO PAYMENT OR CO-PAY. Report to your ES any cases of payment demand,” the memo stated.
The meeting also resolved that all teachers should download the Afya Yangu App to facilitate easier verification of eligibility and access to medical services.
To address frequent system failures that have disrupted service access, SHA announced that satellite backup systems would be installed at all accredited facilities within one month.
“In the next month, Satellites would be installed in all SHA-accredited facilities as backups to deal with the chronic system downtime,” the memo noted.
The stakeholders further agreed to establish county stakeholder management teams within one week to handle teachers’ concerns more efficiently. KNUT Executive Secretaries will be part of the teams, and meetings will be held every two weeks.
Teachers were also directed to update their personal details and those of their dependents at county TSC human resource offices to ensure full medical coverage.
On financial concerns, the meeting resolved that ex gratia payments demanded by some hospitals above the allocated cover would be negotiable between TSC and affected teachers, where claims are justified.
“Exgratia (amount over and above cover allocation demanded by a facility) is negotiable between the employer – TSC – and the teacher. It will be offered if the circumstances and amounts claimed are justifiable,” the memo said.
READ ALSO: TSC, KNUT set for crucial Mombasa talks over troubled teachers’ medical cover
The consultative forum also addressed compensation procedures under the “Last Respect” benefit, stating that payments would be processed within 48 hours if next-of-kin details matched TSC records. KNUT further disclosed that negotiations were ongoing to shift the payments to M-PESA.
The memo additionally confirmed that teachers suffering from chronic illnesses would collect medication from designated facilities every month.
KNUT Nyando Branch expressed optimism following the agreement.
By Joseph Mambili
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