Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale (left) and the SHA Headquarters in Upper Hill, Nairobi. The authority lost Sh11 billion in six months.
Health facilities that turn away patients will have their Social Health Authority (SHA) portal suspended or their operating licence revoked, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has warned, saying the government's patience with facilities that cite SHA payment delays as justification for denying care has run out.
Mr Duale said facilities had been turning away patients under the pretext of system downtime or alleged non-payment by SHA, and made clear that neither excuse carries legal or moral weight.
"You are denying patients treatment because SHA has not paid you. SHA will pay you in accordance with the law. We will not stand by and watch patients suffer when you are supposed to give them treatment and then be paid," he said.
"You have signed an agreement by law with SHA. If we find that you have denied Kenyans their constitutional right to healthcare, not only shall we suspend you from the SHA portal, but we will go further and revoke your licence to operate," Mr Duale added.
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He said health facilities are legally obligated to provide services to all Kenyans, and that failure to do so is a direct violation of citizens' constitutional right to healthcare, a right that cannot be held hostage to billing disputes or technical glitches.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale during the launch of SHA-Taifa Care and Digital of Health Ecosystem in Eldoret City on September 10, 2025.
Mr Duale told the Nation that SHA has released Sh4.1 billion to clear part of the arrears owed to primary healthcare facilities across the country, accumulated over four months — October, November, December and January. An additional Sh11.3 billion has been released to health facilities nationally, bringing the total disbursement to Sh15.4 billion.
He said the release of funds would be accompanied by intensified scrutiny of how those funds are used.
"SHA has money, but the money belongs to the people of Kenya. It is not meant for people to pocket in the name of fraud. We will identify facilities that want to steal from SHA. We will fight fraud," he said.
Speaking at a retreat with senators in Naivasha last Friday, the CS said free primary healthcare has been rolled out across all counties, with more than eight million Kenyans already accessing services without paying at Level Two and Level Three facilities.
The Lipa SHA Pole Pole initiative, which allows informal sector workers to contribute in small instalments rather than lump sum payments, has gained traction, with over 411,000 active payers having collectively raised Sh1.4 billion.
On the question of what SHA covers and where, the authority has designated green-labelled facilities, SHA-contracted Level 2, Level 3, and selected Level 4 facilities, where patients can walk in, receive care and leave without paying for covered primary healthcare services. Those services include outpatient consultation, diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses, basic laboratory tests, essential medicines, preventive and promotive health services, and referral to higher-level facilities where specialised care is required.
Social Health Authority CEO Dr Mercy Mwangangi.
To improve transparency and reduce confusion among patients about what they are entitled to, SHA will place service charters in all facilities, clearly showing patients what services are covered. Facilities offering fully free primary healthcare will be clearly marked as green-labelled, while those offering higher or specialised levels of care will carry a different colour designation to guide patients appropriately.
The CS also reported significant progress on the digitisation of Kenya's health system, with 10,277 health facilities now linked to the Taifa Care system and over 30,000 digital devices deployed across the country. Health data is being hosted locally under a new Kenya-United States partnership designed to safeguard data sovereignty, addressing longstanding concerns about where sensitive health information is stored and who controls it.
The ministry has also regularised the status of medical interns, formalised and equipped 107,000 Community Health Promoters, who serve as the first point of contact between the health system and households, and brought them under the SHA benefits package. An investment of Sh6.18 billion in diagnostic equipment has been made under the National Equipment Support Programme.
The Social Health Authority building in Nairobi.
Despite the progress, Mr Duale acknowledged that significant challenges remain, particularly in harmonising health laws across the country's devolved system and in advancing the Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety Bill, which he described as critical to standardising the level of care Kenyans receive regardless of which facility they visit or which county they live in.
"The state of our healthcare is transforming. We have moved from a deficit-ridden NHIF to a surplus-generating SHA, stopped the haemorrhage of public funds and redirected resources to the mwananchi," he said.
He called for urgent exchequer releases of Sh5.9 billion to clear pending primary healthcare claims, a supplementary budget of Sh11.9 billion to cover projected deficits, and Sh2.04 billion to support the maternity package.
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