A multi-billion-shilling battle over the future of Kenya’s teachers’ medical cover is threatening to overshadow the recruitment of the next Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, with businessman Jayesh Umesh Saini being named in allegations of an alleged campaign to influence the selection of the commission’s next chief executive.
The allegations raise serious questions about the intersection of private commercial interests, public appointments and the management of taxpayer-funded healthcare.
Saini, the businessman associated with Bliss Healthcare and Lifecare Hospitals, has built an extensive healthcare business network whose interests have previously intersected with the medical arrangements covering hundreds of thousands of teachers.
Now, with the former private medical insurance arrangement having given way to the Social Health Authority (SHA), allegations have emerged that the businessman is seeking to regain influence over the lucrative teachers’ healthcare market through the appointment of a sympathetic TSC chief executive.
People familiar with the alleged lobbying describe an aggressive campaign involving powerful individuals, political connections and attempts to influence commissioners ahead of the November 16 interviews.
At the centre of the allegations is Cheptumo Ayabei, TSC’s long-serving Director of Finance, who has been named by sources as the preferred candidate of Saini.
The allegations include claims that millions of shillings have been deployed in efforts to influence the recruitment, that commissioners have been contacted to support Ayabei and that a property in Nairobi’s exclusive Karen neighbourhood was allegedly facilitated for him.
These are serious claims that have not been independently established through payment records, property documents or other corroborating evidence. Neither the alleged payments nor the reported property arrangement should be treated as proven wrongdoing.
But the commercial interests surrounding the recruitment make the allegations deserving of urgent scrutiny.
The TSC is not an ordinary government department. It oversees the employment and management of more than 400,000 teachers and has enormous influence over policies affecting their welfare, including their healthcare arrangements.
The next chief executive will inherit an institution whose decisions have enormous implications for the private healthcare industry.
The Sh161 billion teachers’ medical business
To understand why the appointment has attracted such intense interest, one must examine the history of the teachers’ medical insurance arrangement and the position occupied by businesses associated with Saini.
For years, teachers’ healthcare was organised through a private insurance arrangement led by Minet Kenya Insurance Brokers.
The three-year contract running from December 2022 to November 2025 was valued at approximately KSh53.58 billion.
The underwriting consortium included Old Mutual General Insurance, Britam General Insurance, CIC General Insurance and Star Discover Life Insurance.
But the arrangement had another important layer.
Bliss Healthcare, associated with Saini, was identified as the master capitator, while Medical Administrators Kenya Limited (MAKL) handled medical scheme administration.
A petition presented to Parliament in March 2024 questioned the administration of the arrangement and alleged irregular dealings involving the insurance consortium and the companies involved in managing healthcare delivery.
The petition called for investigations, examination of witnesses and production of relevant documents.
The Informer Media Group subsequently reported that TSC had paid Minet approximately KSh160 billion over nine years under the arrangement.
These were not insignificant commercial relationships. They involved a nationwide network of hospitals, healthcare professionals, medical administrators and pharmaceutical suppliers serving a vast population of teachers and their dependants.
Bliss was not simply another hospital on a list of approved facilities.
In February 2023, TSC officials appeared before the National Assembly Education Committee and explained that the teachers’ scheme operated through a hybrid insurance and capitation model.
TSC Deputy Director of Finance Franklin Choge identified Bliss as the master capitator.
This arrangement meant Bliss had an important role in the capitation structure through which participating healthcare facilities were paid for treating teachers.
The model was defended as a way of controlling treatment costs, but lawmakers questioned why teachers were required to obtain referrals through Bliss and whether the company had sufficient facilities to justify its position.
Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera openly questioned the preferential arrangement.
The issue was not merely who owned the hospitals. It was why a private healthcare company had such an important position in the administration of medical access for an enormous public workforce.
When teachers complained, Parliament demanded answers
The most damaging aspect of the old arrangement was the growing number of complaints about the actual healthcare teachers were receiving.
In May 2025, the National Assembly Education Committee confronted Bliss Healthcare and MAKL over allegations of poor-quality treatment, expensive generic medicines, substandard spectacles and long waiting times.
Committee chairman Julius Melly demanded explanations about complaints that teachers were receiving medicines considered inferior by patients and that the prices charged did not reflect the quality of products supplied.
Teso South MP Mary Emase raised complaints about spectacles, inadequate laboratory facilities and the absence of night services at some facilities.
Other lawmakers questioned why Bliss was simultaneously involved in capitation and healthcare provision.
Bliss CEO Felix Wanjala rejected the suggestion that generic medicines were inherently inferior, explaining that generic medicines contain the same active molecules as branded alternatives and are generally cheaper.
MAKL also defended its administration, telling lawmakers that acute outpatient visits did not require pre-authorisation and that 96 per cent of admissions and discharges were being approved within 30 to 45 minutes.
But the parliamentary interrogation exposed a fundamental problem: teachers were paying for a comprehensive medical arrangement and still questioning whether they were receiving value for money.
The complaints were not confined to parliamentary hearings.
In March 2025, Business Daily reported that teachers were being turned away from private hospitals because of disputes over outstanding payments.
Some were forced to purchase medication themselves, while others resorted to overcrowded public hospitals.
One teacher described being turned away from facilities in Ruiru and eventually having to pay cash for treatment at Gatundu Level Five Hospital despite having medical cover.
Another teacher with chronic illnesses reported being denied treatment at private hospitals and subsequently paying out of pocket.
These experiences exposed the human cost of the disputes between the insurer, administrators and healthcare providers.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers and other stakeholders raised concerns about mounting unpaid medical claims and the collapse of access to private healthcare facilities.
The financial difficulties were substantial. Government funding delays and unpaid provider claims affected the ability of hospitals to continue providing cashless treatment.
It is important to distinguish those funding failures from allegations of poor service by individual providers. But the overall record demonstrates that the old arrangement was facing serious questions about accessibility, accountability and service delivery.
The contract that disappeared and the market Saini may want back
The old teachers’ medical arrangement reached a turning point on November 30, 2025.
From December 1, 2025, TSC transitioned teachers to the government-run Social Health Authority arrangement, replacing the previous private insurance structure.
This was a significant change for companies that had participated in the old system.
Bliss had spent years occupying an important position in the teachers’ medical scheme. The transition meant that the previous contractual architecture could no longer be relied upon in the same way.
The commercial question is what happens next.
The Mwalimu Comprehensive Medical Cover under SHA serves more than 400,000 teachers and hundreds of thousands of dependants.
The Ministry of Health reported in March 2026 that 413,577 teachers and 807,426 dependants were covered, with more than 227,000 teachers having accessed treatment since the transition.
This is an enormous healthcare market.
Even without the previous private insurance contract, there remains a vast network of hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies and medical professionals required to deliver services to teachers.
For a businessman whose healthcare interests span outpatient centres, hospitals, pharmaceutical distribution and medical administration, access to such a market carries obvious commercial significance.
The question is whether the alleged lobbying around the TSC appointment is connected to an attempt to regain influence over this market.
There is no independently verified evidence establishing that Saini has instructed anyone to secure a particular outcome or that he has already obtained a commitment from the commission.
But the overlap between his commercial interests and the allegations surrounding the recruitment demands answers.
Why Ayabei’s candidacy is attracting attention
TSC shortlisted five candidates from 124 applicants for the position of Secretary and CEO.
They are Cheptumo Ayabei, Evaleen Jesang Mitei, Robert Odette, Lawrence Ngai Kaburu and Farah Abdi Saman.
Ayabei is the commission’s Director of Finance and has served in the position since 2009.
He joined TSC in 1999 as a Finance Officer and previously worked at the Ministry of Education. He holds a Bachelor of Education degree in Mathematics and Economics from Kenyatta University, a Master’s degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Stirling and is a Certified Public Accountant.
His extensive experience in the commission’s financial operations makes him an established insider in the institution.
But it is precisely the allegations about his external relationships that require scrutiny.
Sources familiar with the alleged lobbying have identified Ayabei as Saini’s preferred candidate and claimed that the businessman has been mobilising support for his appointment.
There are also allegations that Saini has approached TSC commissioners to influence the outcome.
A separate allegation concerns the reported acquisition of a house in Karen for Ayabei, allegedly facilitated by Saini.
This newsroom has not independently verified the alleged property transaction or established its financing, ownership arrangements or any connection to an improper benefit.
The relevant questions are whether Ayabei has disclosed any material relationships with companies participating in TSC medical arrangements, whether there have been financial or property transactions involving the parties and whether any such dealings were declared in accordance with public-service integrity requirements.
A finance director who becomes the commission’s chief executive would occupy a highly influential position in the institution’s administrative and financial operations.
That does not make Ayabei unsuitable for the job. It makes transparency about his relationships and potential conflicts of interest essential.
The powerful names allegedly backing the campaign
The allegations also name other influential individuals said to be supporting Ayabei.
Former President Daniel arap Moi’s private secretary Joshua Kulei has been mentioned in the alleged lobbying, with sources claiming that TSC Vice Chairperson Sharon Kidire is being used to advance the candidate’s interests.
Nominated MP Jackson Kosgei, who hails from Baringo County, has also been named as an alleged supporter.
These claims remain unverified and do not establish that any of the named individuals has improperly interfered with the recruitment.
However, the involvement of political and business powerbrokers in a supposedly competitive public appointment would raise serious questions about the independence of the selection panel.
The commission must establish whether the recruitment is being conducted on merit or whether external interests are attempting to determine the outcome before interviews even begin.
Saini’s wider healthcare empire
The TSC controversy also brings renewed attention to the structure of Saini’s healthcare interests.
He founded Bliss Healthcare in 2012 and established Lifecare Hospitals in 2017. His wider business interests include pharmaceutical distribution through Dilnas Pharma and other healthcare-related ventures.
Nairobi West Hospital is part of his family’s healthcare history, having been established by his father, Umesh Saini.
The combination of outpatient facilities, hospitals, pharmaceutical interests and medical administration gives the business network exposure to several stages of healthcare delivery.
The question is whether the appropriate safeguards exist to prevent commercial interests in one part of the healthcare chain from influencing decisions in another.
When the same business network has interests in medical administration, treatment facilities and pharmaceutical supply, procurement transparency, competitive tendering and conflict-of-interest declarations become particularly important.
The old teachers’ medical scheme exposed exactly these concerns when MPs questioned Bliss’s dual position as master capitator and healthcare provider.
The public deserves to know whether the lessons from that arrangement have been incorporated into the new SHA system.
The Amenya controversy and the unanswered SHA questions
Saini has also faced public scrutiny over allegations made by Kenyan whistleblower Nelson Amenya concerning the transition from NHIF to SHA and alleged business interests connected to the healthcare reforms.
Saini challenged Amenya’s publications through legal proceedings.
In January 2025, the Versailles Judicial Court dismissed Saini’s interim defamation action, finding that the publications concerned matters of public debate and legitimate interest.
The International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture subsequently expressed concern about the legal pressure facing Amenya.
The ruling did not establish the truth of every allegation against Saini. But it reinforced the importance of allowing legitimate public-interest scrutiny of powerful commercial interests involved in public procurement.
Saini’s business dealings and the allegations surrounding healthcare contracts deserve examination on their own evidence, not suppression through fear of litigation.
A recruitment process already troubled by a court ruling
The TSC recruitment itself has a history of procedural problems.
The High Court nullified the earlier recruitment exercise after finding that the original advertisement gave applicants only 13 days to apply, against the minimum 14 days required under the commission’s human resource policies.
The court also faulted the commission for failing to disclose the proposed remuneration for the position.
The fresh process attracted 124 applicants, from whom five candidates were shortlisted.
The interviews are scheduled for Monday, November 16, at the TSC headquarters in Upper Hill.
Ayabei is scheduled to appear first at 9am, followed by acting CEO Evaleen Mitei at 10am, Robert Odette at 11am, Lawrence Kaburu at noon and Farah Abdi Saman at 1pm.
TSC has invited members of the public to submit credible information about the shortlisted candidates through sworn affidavits addressed to the commission chairperson.
The deadline is November 13, 2026.
That invitation is particularly important given the allegations now circulating around the recruitment.
The commission has an opportunity to investigate any credible information submitted about the candidates before making its final decision.
Questions TSC cannot afford to ignore
The recruitment should not be reduced to a contest between powerful individuals seeking to install their preferred candidate.
Teachers have a right to expect that their next chief executive will protect their welfare rather than serve the commercial interests of private healthcare operators.
The commission should establish whether any shortlisted candidate has undisclosed financial, property or business relationships with companies that have participated in its medical schemes.
It should also investigate whether any person has attempted to influence commissioners, selection panel members or other officials outside the established recruitment process.
Saini should publicly clarify whether he has contacted TSC commissioners concerning the appointment, whether he supports Ayabei’s candidacy and whether his healthcare businesses intend to participate in future arrangements involving teachers’ medical cover.
Ayabei should clarify whether he has any personal or financial relationship with Saini or companies associated with him, including whether there have been any property transactions or benefits that could create a conflict of interest.
Joshua Kulei, Sharon Kidire and Jackson Kosgei should also be given an opportunity to address the allegations that they are participating in efforts to influence the recruitment.
TSC should disclose the safeguards it has established to protect the process from commercial and political interference.
Ultimately, the issue is bigger than whether one businessman gets his preferred candidate.
It concerns whether a public institution responsible for hundreds of thousands of teachers can independently manage a healthcare system worth billions of shillings without becoming vulnerable to the interests of private commercial networks.
Teachers have already endured years of complaints about denied treatment, unpaid hospital bills, questionable service quality and the difficulties of accessing the medical cover for which public money was allocated.
They should not have to worry that the next person occupying the TSC chief executive’s office will be beholden to the very commercial interests whose role in their previous medical arrangement attracted parliamentary scrutiny.
The appointment must be about the welfare of teachers, not the recovery of lost commercial ground.
The question is no longer simply who will become the next TSC CEO. It is whose interests that person will serve.
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