President William Ruto has rejected claims that the government lost KSh50 billion from the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) under the Social Health Authority (SHA), calling the reports by the Daily Nation misleading.
Speaking during a joint parliamentary meeting of UDA and ODM, the President described the allegations of financial mismanagement as “propaganda”, highlighting instead the government’s progress in expanding Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“Forget about the propaganda in the headline of the news that we lost some KSh50 billion. If we lost KSh50 billion, it means there will be nothing to pay in hospitals,” Ruto said.
SHIF Payments Remain On Track
The President confirmed that SHA payments are being disbursed as expected, with KSh16.2 billion paid this week alone for primary healthcare and SHIF-covered services.
“We are paying the highest amounts of money to any hospital that has ever been paid under any other administration or programme. We are dealing with health to reduce bills for citizens,” he added.
Auditor-General Report on Irregular Claims
The claims of KSh50 billion losses stem from an audit by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, which flagged irregular SHIF claims between July 2024 and June 2025.
The audit identified:
Repeated open-heart surgeries billed for the same patient on a single day 3,235 times, costing KSh445.4 million.
Multiple deliveries claimed for the same mother 6,392 times within one year, costing KSh148.4 million.
Health CS Aden Duale previously stressed the government’s zero-tolerance stance on SHA fraud, noting that billions in fraudulent claims have been rejected through rigorous digital validation and verification systems.
SHA Coverage and Contributions
As of February 2026, 29.7 million Kenyans were registered under the SHA scheme.
SHA collected KSh142.78 billion in contributions and disbursed KSh105 billion to healthcare providers.
The system includes enhanced auditing to detect and reject medically improbable claims, ensuring integrity and accountability.
President Ruto’s remarks aim to reassure the public that SHA funds are secure and that reported losses largely represent fraudulent or irregular claims already addressed by the authority.
Tags
News