President William Ruto has announced that the government has shut down over 1,000 healthcare facilities implicated in a widespread scheme to defraud the Social Health Authority (SHA) of nearly Ksh.100 million.
Speaking during a diaspora townhall meeting in London on Wednesday, President Ruto said the crackdown targets hospitals that submitted falsified medical claims, particularly by converting outpatient visits into more lucrative inpatient claims or admitting patients unnecessarily.
“We have closed down 1,000 fake hospitals and we are closing a few more in the coming days,” Ruto revealed. “They are manipulating patient categories to claim more money. We will shut them down and make sure the program is clean.”
An internal Ministry of Health report, cited by Citizen TV, details how some of the facilities involved admitted “ghost patients,” with some locations reportedly operating beyond their official capacity.
The revelations come amid an intensified investigation by the Ministry of Health and the SHA. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed over the weekend that 35 facilities had already been closed, and that SHA had suspended services in more than 10 counties linked to the fraudulent activities.
President Ruto credited enhanced technology and digitization of hospital processes with helping authorities uncover the fraud. “With the use of technology, it’s now easier to track admissions, discharges, and claims. That is why it is easy for us to discover these cases,” he said.
Duale’s ministry also noted that some patients were complicit in the scam, sharing personal hospital codes to facilitate inflated claims.
The government has pledged to continue the crackdown and restore integrity to the national healthcare system as part of broader reforms under the SHA.
Written By Rodney Mbua
