The Social Health Authority (SHA) has officially advertised 65 senior management vacancies even as 225 former employees of the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) remain stuck at home awaiting deployment by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

The positions, which were announced on Tuesday and published in local dailies, are part of SHA’s efforts to strengthen its capacity and deliver on its mandate of overseeing the Social Health Insurance Fund, Primary Healthcare Fund, and Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.

In the notice, SHA invited experienced, result-oriented, and visionary professionals to apply for various senior positions to help drive its strategic objectives and improve healthcare access across the country. Interested applicants have until 5.00pm on August 19, 2025, to submit their applications either online or physically at the SHA building on Ragati Road, Nairobi.

According to the announcement, all applicants are expected to meet Chapter Six requirements of the Constitution by submitting clearance documents from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kenya Revenue Authority, Higher Education Loans Board, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and a Credit Reference Bureau.

Applicants must also include a detailed CV, academic and professional certificates, a cover letter, and contacts of three referees.

The SHA advertisement comes at a time when uncertainty continues to hang over the fate of 225 out of 247 former NHIF employees who were issued with deployment letters to PSC by SHA Chief Executive Officer Mercy Mwangangi on June 9.

The employees had been working at SHA since its establishment in November 2023. Upon receiving the letters, they were instructed to report to the PSC for deployment.

However, the PSC asked them to wait, citing lack of available positions.

So far, only 22 of the 247 individuals issued with deployment letters have been absorbed.

They are now working in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Telecommunication, as well as the National Treasury and Economic Planning. The rest continue to receive salaries despite being at home.

On Tuesday last week, Health Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale and Dr Mwangangi held a meeting with the affected employees and later issued a press briefing.

During the engagement, Dr Mwangangi assured the workers that they will retain their current perks.

Duale also told the employees that none of them would lose their jobs. “The 247 who received letters will retain their current perks,” said Mwangangi, while Duale assured, “None will lose their job.”

The developments follow a recent ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, which directed that staff from the defunct NHIF who are not absorbed by SHA and opt for deployment within the public service should retain their NHIF salaries—personal to self—until they exit service through retirement, resignation, or any other lawful means.

The court also ruled that all deployment letters already issued be revised to reflect this salary protection.

“The issue whether the staff of NHIF competitively recruited for absorption into service of SHA should retain their NHIF salaries personal to self-consequential to recruitment for appointment by SHA be submitted upon for determination by the court,” the order read.

Despite this directive and reassurances by government officials, the deployment letters issued to the 247 employees have yet to be recalled or revised, leaving hundreds of workers in prolonged uncertainty.