How SHA jobs have become a two tribes affair

Social Health Authority building in Nairobi. [File, Standard] Despite heated debate over alleged irregularities in the hiring process at the Social Health Authority (SHA), two communities continue to dominate jobs at the agency, raising concerns over compliance with constitutional requirements on diversity. In the ongoing recruitment of claims management officers, the two communities account for more than 50 per cent of the shortlisted candidates. This comes just a month after the same two tribes were reported to have dominated the recruitment of county operations managers. SHA had advertised positions for Claims Management Officer I, Claims Management Officer II, and Claims Management Officer II (Dispatch Centre). According to a statement by SHA, at least 1,358 candidates applied for the positions, but only 116 met the qualifications and were shortlisted. The claims management roles are considered junior positions within the authority's human resource structure. Of the 116 shortlisted candidates, 61 are drawn from two communities, 27 Somalis and 34 Kalenjins, leaving only 55 slots to be shared among candidates from the other 43 tribes in the country. Some communities, including the Teso, Samburu and Maasai, did not appear on the shortlist. The recruitment exercise has sparked public uproar and raised constitutional questions about inclusivity and equitable representation in government hiring. Beatrice Kairu, a health economist and policy expert, poked holes in the list, saying: "No. It is not right. It goes against the Constitution." In an interview with The Standard, Ms Kairu said ethnic dominance in hiring at the authority signals a governance risk. "Institutions captured by narrow networks often undermine efficiency, merit, and public trust in health financing reforms. In a system meant to deliver universal coverage under the Constitution of Kenya 2010, recruitment must reflect national diversity, or the legitimacy and performance of the reform itself will be compromised," said Kairu. Advertisement for the jobs was put up on October 28, 2025, with the deadline for application put on November 18, 2025. On the shortlisted list published over the weekend, SHA chief executive officer Mercy Mwangangi called on the public to participate in verification of qualifications of the candidates. "Members of the public are invited to avail adverse information to any of the shortlisted applicants to the CEO, SHA Building 10th floor , Nairobi or through email to recruitment@sha.go.ke so as to be received before March 20, 2026 by 5pm," noted Dr Mwangangi. According to Kairu, the tribal capture of public institutions destroys trust despite SHA being a vehicle towards attaining of Kenya's Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Kenyans also flocked the SHA website and social media pages to lament about the lack of objectivity in the recruitment, saying it lacked fairness, transparency and the objective of advertisement. "This selection must be biased and it should be declared null and void. A lot of Tribe X in the mix," observed Jose Makau. "Mind you this is just claims officer 11 shortlisting, all Kenyan tribe X will get all jobs at SHA," added Faith Chepkorir. "Kindly do what others do, publish the names of the initial applicants first. Follow it up with names of those shortlisted. You cannot tell me that there is no Teso who applied for any of those positions that deserved to be shortlisted. This is hogwash, plain domineering of smaller communities by bigger ones," complained David Kasiba. "55 per cent is dominated by Tribe X and Tribe Y. No Maasai, Samburu, Coast people, among others. I hear we are 45 tribes in Kenya," said Favoured Mark. Kairu maintained that the recruitment process at SHA must meet the constitutional standards of fairness, merit, and national inclusivity, under Articles 10, 27, and 232 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, public employment cannot appear captured by a few communities while excluding others. "If these principles were violated, the only credible step is to audit the process and, if necessary, scrap and repeat the recruitment transparently to restore public trust in our health financing reforms," said Kairu. The shocking revelations have emerged shortly after recruitment of county operations managers who were also dominated by the two tribes. The tribes took almost half of the positions. Out of the 47 officials deployed to counties as SHA county operations managers, at least 22 are drawn from only two communities. The county operation managers have since reported to their respective work stations. So far, at least 425 senior officers positions have been filled at SHA, with those picked expected to decentralize operations to the counties. Positions for top management, directors and branch managers have also already been filled, with deployment already done. In a recent interview with The Standard, constitutional lawyer Ndong Evance said the recruitment at the Authority raises serious constitutional questions, particularly on equity, inclusiveness, transparency, and protection of marginalised groups. The Ministry of Health, according to the lawyer, ought to demonstrate to the public that efforts are being made to ensure inclusivity, even where only one appointment is made. "The proper constitutional test is to assess the list holistically. Does it reflect the inclusiveness and diversity contemplated under the Constitution? If one community dominates a third, half, or two-thirds of the appointments, then the principle of diversity is clearly violated," the lawyer said. When the employment issue was raised last month, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale maintained recruitment is strictly based on merit. This phase focused on securing the core leadership to operationalize the Authority," Duale told MPs.

How SHA jobs have become a two tribes affair

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