Kenya, Feb. 21 -- Members of Parliament (MPs) have rejected a request by the Social Health Authority (SHA) for an additional Sh77 billion in funding for the 2025/26 financial year, raising serious questions about the agency's management of its current budget.
The decision, made during a heated session with the National Assembly Health Committee, comes amid growing concerns that billions of allocated funds remain unspent while millions of Kenyans continue to face significant barriers to accessing quality healthcare.
SHA, tasked with overseeing Kenya's Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) as part of the country's Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative, had sought the extra funds to bolster its operations, including administrative costs, emergency care, and chronic illness support.
However, lawmakers expressed frustration over the lack of clarity surrounding the utilization of SHA's existing budget, pointing to what they described as "opaque" expenditure practices.
Seme MP James Nyikal highlighted the paradox of unspent funds coexisting with widespread healthcare access issues. "It's unacceptable that SHA has unutilized billions while Kenyans cannot get the care they need. We need a detailed breakdown of how the current money is being spent before approving more," Nyikal stated.
Committee Chairman Robert Pukose echoed these sentiments, accusing SHA of failing to address public outcries over poor healthcare services since the transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
SHA Acting CEO Robert Ingasira defended the funding request, arguing that the agency manages multiple funds with significant financial demands. "We oversee the Primary Healthcare Fund, the Emergency, Chronic, and Critical Illness Fund, and SHIF.
The gaps are substantial, and this additional funding is critical to meet our goals," Ingasira said. However, MPs demanded concrete evidence of how the current Sh88 billion budget-comprising Sh4 billion for administration, Sh2 billion for emergencies, and Sh82 billion for SHIF-has been deployed.
The rejection underscores broader tensions over healthcare financing in Kenya. With a total resource requirement of Sh426.8 billion for 2025/26 and only Sh172.6 billion allocated, SHA faces a funding gap of Sh254.2 billion.
Critics argue that inefficiencies, rather than insufficient funds, are at the heart of the problem, pointing to delays in disbursing claims to hospitals and persistent service delivery challenges.
As Kenyans grapple with out-of-pocket healthcare costs and uneven access to services, the standoff between MPs and SHA raises pressing questions about accountability and the feasibility of achieving UHC.
The Health Committee has directed SHA to provide a comprehensive expenditure report before any further funding discussions can proceed, leaving the agency's ambitious plans in limbo for now.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.