Fix the Social Health Authority (SHA) mess, end fraud to alleviate patients’ suffering

Kenya’s health sector has for some time now come under the microscope because of the rot within the Social Health Authority (SHA).

What was envisioned as a transformative model to replace the troubled National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), suffered a false start shrouded by secrecy, horse-trading of business deals and perceived as a tool to entrench commercial interests over the public good.

Essentially, from its formative stages, it quickly inherited the very vices it sought to cure; corruption, inefficiency and disregard for the very people it was created to serve.

Revelations of premeditated fraud schemes, ghost claims, dubious payouts, and questionable procurement at the SHA are more than just headlines, in fact, they represent lives lost, families driven to financial ruin, and patients forced to endure needless suffering in underfunded hospitals.

Behind every scandal figure lies a mother unable to pay for maternity care, a cancer patient turned away for lack of drugs, or a child denied treatment because funds meant for their care were siphoned into private pockets.

The government cannot continue treating health sector corruption as business as usual. Billions of shillings are being drained by a few while millions of Kenyans struggle with unbearable hospital bills.

This undermines the very essence of universal healthcare, which President William Ruto has repeatedly pledged to deliver.

Fixing the mess at the Social Health Authority must start with transparency and accountability. Every fraudulent claim should be audited, every official implicated in corruption investigated, and stolen funds recovered.

The system must also be digitised end-to-end to block loopholes that have enabled fraudulent payouts for years. Needless to say, the system is as good as the user.

Oversight must not remain an internal affair but involve independent watchdogs, including Parliament, investigative agencies and the civil society to ensure public funds serve the public.

Ultimately, healthcare is not a privilege but a right enshrined in the Constitution. Kenyans should not be forced to fund grand corruption while languishing in hospital corridors without medicine.

If the SHA continues on its current path, it risks becoming another failed experiment like its predecessor.

The government has a moral and constitutional duty to act decisively. Cleaning up the Social Health Authority is not just about ending fraud; it is about restoring faith in public institutions, upholding the right to health, and most importantly, alleviating the needless suffering of patients who cannot wait for endless reforms.

Kenya deserves a healthcare system that heals the sick, not one that fattens the corrupt.