Ghost hospital: SHA wired Sh20m to this thicket - and more suspect deals

When the Daily Nation team arrived at the hospital on Thursday at 11 am, the gate was closed with no one around except a cow grazing in the compound.

The grass in the compound had, however, been freshly cleared, though some overgrown vegetation was still evident around the L-shaped yellow-painted stone building with a blue iron sheet roof.

It was a ghostly building with metallic blue doors shut, black paint peeling from the skirting around the wall and the emptiness inside visible from the glass windows.

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This is Nyandiwa Dispensary in West Kamagak Ward, Homa Bay County, which has been abandoned for 10 years.

Yet the Social Health Authority (SHA) wired Sh20 million to this “hospital” this month. On paper, Nyandiwa Health Centre treated patients and submitted claims to the authority for reimbursement.

In addition to this substantial disbursement, the SHA had allocated Sh10,080 to the closed health institution that the Ministry of Health still lists as operational.

According to an official August 2025 disbursement schedule obtained by the Daily Nation, SHA wired Sh19,998,720 to Nyandiwa Dispensary.

Ministry official records show that the abandoned dispensary has an admission capacity of nine.

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On SHA’s website, the dispensary was licensed by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) in 2024 under permit GK-013891.

The authority describes it as a Level Two hospital with the agent being the devolved government of Homa Bay.

How a dispensary that ceased operations long before SHA was launched obtained a licence from the KMPDC, presumably after inspection, and subsequently got into the payment systems is a mystery.

Homa Bay County Director of Public Health Amos Dullo, who serves as the SHA focal person, admitted that the Nyandiwa dispensary shut years ago.

“The SHA systems might be having issues. We have had official communication to that effect,” Dr Dullo told the Daily Nation.

“The dispensary is not empanelled in SHA and has not signed a contract with the authority. It doesn’t exist physically in their system and county systems.”

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Asked under what circumstances the dispensary got Sh20 million, Dr Dullo said SHA cited a “clerical error”.

“I asked the same question today and was told it was an error and that the Sh20 million had been rewired to Nyandiwa Level Four Hospital, which confirmed receiving the amount,” Dr Dullo said.

He then pointed to other questionable deals.

“The money meant for Masogo Health Centre was sent to Siaya. Gongo Health Centre in Homa Bay has not received anything because its money went to Siaya too,” Dr Dullo said.

“St Lawrence Hospital received a lot of money that it was not supposed to get. We have established that the money was meant for Rangwe Hospital. SHA says it has written to the hospitals and told the management to transfer the money to its rightful recipients.”

The Nation investigates

The Daily Nation has established that claims SHA processed from unknown persons may have been used to justify August payments to Gongo Health Centre in Siaya.

These were redirected from another hospital in Homa Bay, which SHA insiders suspect may also have been used by unknown persons to process the Sh20 million wired to Nyandiwa Dispensary.

“The hospital’s claims are going to Gongo in what I can only describe as an intentional mix-up,” a senior health official who works at Gongo told the Daily Nation while allowing access to its SHA dashboard.

“This is how our dashboard looks like. Those details are not ours, except my name. Our hospital’s registration is GK-013679 MFL code 13587.

Pressed how a dead hospital was registered by the KMPDC, paid by SHA in July and August and has an active licence number despite officials knowing well it is not operational, the official had no response.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said he has scrutinised SHA records and the bank account the money was wired to and found it was a case of confusion.

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“When our team was generating the list, someone stated that we paid Sh20 million to Nyandiwa Dispensary instead of Nyandiwa Level Four Hospital,” the minister said.

“It is human error. Nyandiwa Health Centre was never been completed or commissioned after being abandoned by the then-governor. It does not have transacting rights and has never done business with with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) or SHA.”

He added that some county hospitals that began as dispensaries or subdistrict hospitals have maintained their bank accounts to date.

Mr Duale said the KMPDC has a list of health institutions with their current licence status.

Nyandhiwa started as a dispensary and is now licensed by KMPDC as a Level Four hospital,” Mr Duale said.

“The bank details were retained as it transitioned to Level Four and the funds are paid into the account. Our files read the submitted account name, which is the hospital’s name and the bank details,” the CS added.

There are still questions that demand answers despite the explanation by the CS and Homa Bay County officials.

If Nyandiwa Dispensary has not been operational for all those years, who cleared the compound?

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A young man named Barrack Omondi told the Daily Nation crew that he and his friends were hired to clear the grass and bushes.

“We thought that after all those years, someone wanted to revive this dispensary. He paid us for the work and left,” Mr Omondi said, adding that he has been in Nyandiwa all his life.

Homa Bay County Chief Medical Services Officer Kevin Osuri said one of his juniors oversaw the work.

“The hired young men must have mistaken him for me. We sent them to survey the abandoned dispensary because we want to revive it in the next financial year. We will rehabilitate and register it,” Dr Osuri said.

Mr James Okal, a health worker at a nearby hospital, lamented the neglect of the dispensary, which was expected to serve the residents of Obisa, Kamuma, Omuga and Misambi villages.

“There is nothing there. The dispensary has never been operational and has no workers, equipment or medicine. It is empty,” a senior ministry official said.

It was meant to serve hundreds of residents, including children and expectant women who now have to Rangwe and other distant hospitals for treatment.

“This dispensary was completed a decade ago. Locals find it hectic and spend a lot of money to seek medical care in Oyugis and other places,” Mr Omondi said.

The young man was stunned on learning that the dispensary received millions of shillings from SHA.

“That is surprising. The most reliable health institution – Rachuonyo Sub-County Hospital – is about four kilometres away,” Mr Omondi said.

“Trekking to Rachuonyo when sick, especially at night, is challenging. We pray that the county government revives this dispensary,” he said.

Ms Rosalinda Odawa, another resident, said: “We had high hopes of using this dispensary and hope it will be revived soon.”

Ms Hellen Onyango, who said she witnessed the construction of Nyandiwa Dispensary, added that it is expensive to travel on motorbikes or matatus for treatment.

“I am shocked to hear that this health facility has been receiving payment in millions yet it is not operational,” said Emily Dan, another resident who lives adjacent to the health center.

Jumuia Hospital in Huruma, a Level 5 health facility was paid Sh 87,062,778 in August which is more than a combined total of Sh 80,543,356 that was paid to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and to Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH). KNH received Sh 70,182,629 and KUTRRH got Sh 10,351,727 from SHA.