Senior Ministry of Health officials, led by Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, have increasingly resorted to personal attacks and intimidation tactics against journalists reporting on systemic failures in Kenya's healthcare system, rather than addressing the substantive issues raised in their coverage.
The pattern of hostility, which also includes Principal Secretary for Medical Services Dr Ouma Oluga, has transformed official press conferences into platforms for attacking journalists from Nation Media Group (NMG), according to multiple documented incidents spanning recent months.
During a press conference on Friday, when a Nation journalist attempted to as Mr Duale questions about SHA's nine-month delay in paying private hospitals — forcing public servants to pay out-of-pocket for health services —the Cabinet Secretary aggressively interrupted the reporter.
"Nation Media Group should now start a hospital at Nation Centre, then come back to us to grant NMG a SHA portal to operate as a health facility," Mr Duale responded before the journalist could finish the question.
He then instructed an aide to grab the microphone from the journalist, but chose to respond to the initial question after our reporter insisted on having the question put across.
The Ministry's response strategy extends beyond press conferences to social media platforms, where officials launch personal attacks against journalists by name.
Following a story about a 70-year-old cancer patient struggling to access medication through SHA — told he had "depleted his cover" and should return in the next financial year — Mr Duale took to social media platform X demanding Nation Media Group employ "more serious journalists" and sent screenshots directly to the reporter's inbox. The patient insisted, on camera and through various documents, that he had been told he had depleted his cover and could not access services.
When the Daily Nation published a report about a 10-month-old baby abandoned in India after SHA failed to pay promised overseas treatment funding, leaving the family with a Sh565,000 hospital bill, Mr Duale again used social media to label the journalist "lazy" and accused them of "coaching patients against SHA."
While Mr Duale insisted that SHA had a long process to authorise medical treatment abroad, the parents of the baby proved they had official authorisation by a senior official in the agency, with a commitment to pay Sh500,000.
On August 4, 2025, during a Ministry of Health event focused on biometric identification, CS Duale refused to answer questions about nursing interns or Mpox cases, despite rising infection numbers. When pressed about cancer patients' difficulties accessing care, he dismissed concerns, suggesting patients should simply call the SHA helpline.
The pattern has become consistent: deflection of healthcare policy questions in favour of attacking the questioners.
Following a July 1 announcement about medical interns' readiness, CS Duale stated their salaries would be Sh206,000. When journalists verified this figure and discovered the basic salary was actually Sh46,120 — requiring additional allowances to reach the quoted amount —they published a detailed breakdown.
Despite quoting Mr Duale verbatim, the CS reposted the story claiming journalists had "lied," even though the analysis was based entirely on his own statements and official documentation.
The intimidation tactics have extended to economic threats. Dr Oluga directly threatened to contact Nation Media Group partners to stop funding, apart from the Cabinet Secretary’s declaration to withdraw any advertising.
When the Daily Nation published a July 2 story titled "SHA denies critical tumour surgery despite full premium payment, leaving patient in pain," both CS Duale and Dr Oluga dismissed the report as "fictions and falsehood" on social media rather than investigating the allegations.
Dr Oluga, who was previously a vocal unionist fighting for rights, demanded the media house "produce such a character so that they are punished for harming patients," claiming no hospital staff would make such statements. When Nation arranged a televised interview with both the patient and caretaker to verify the story, officials went silent but continued their hostile approach to subsequent questions.
The hostility extended to parliamentary proceedings when reports emerged about SHA's decision to abandon its One-Time Password (OTP) system and revert to the old National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) biometric identification system. Rather than providing transparent explanations for this policy reversal, CS Duale directed his anger at the messenger.
During parliamentary sessions, when journalists sought clarification on the policy change, Mr Duale told parliamentary journalists to relay a message to the Nation journalist who write the story covering SHA's system changes: "go to hell."
Ministry officials demonstrate a conspicuous pattern: silence when coverage favours the ministry, but immediate social media attacks when stories expose system failures or question policy decisions. Positive coverage receives no official commendation, while critical but factual reporting triggers sustained harassment campaigns.
Recent policy reversals, such as SHA's decision to abandon the One-Time Password system in favour of the old NHIF biometric identification system, have been met with attacks on journalists rather than transparent explanations for the changes.
The sustained campaign appears designed to discourage scrutiny of Kenya's healthcare system at a time when patients face significant challenges accessing care. The transformation of official press conferences from information-sharing platforms into attack venues represents a concerning development in government-media relations.
Health journalists report that the hostile environment makes it increasingly difficult to hold officials accountable for policy decisions affecting millions of Kenyans, particularly vulnerable populations seeking essential medical services through the state insurance scheme.
The pattern of behaviour documented across multiple incidents suggests a deliberate strategy to silence legitimate healthcare reporting rather than address the systemic issues that continue to affect patients nationwide.
The conduct of the Cabinet Secretary and the Principal Secretary has continuously failed to meet what is expected of government officials on ethics, integrity and providing information to the public. Their threats also fall foul of the constitutionally protected freedom of the media freedom.
