Justin Muturi links SHA financial flaws to Nairobi Hospital leadership row
By Mustafa Juma, March 31, 2026Former Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has claimed that financial flows under the Social Health Authority (SHA) are tied to the ongoing leadership wrangles at Nairobi Hospital that saw President William Ruto intervene.
Taking to his official X account on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, the former attorney general claimed that the government’s health financing model, championed by President William Ruto, was deliberately structured to enable opaque financial dealings under the guise of reform.
Muturi argued that what was initially presented as a transparent and accountable system quickly changed once scrutiny intensified.
“With regard to the Social Health Authority (SHA), many Kenyans will recall that I raised concerns from the very beginning when William Ruto and the then Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha were crafting the laws that now anchor this SHA nonsense. What was presented as reform was, in truth, a carefully structured scheme,” Muturi stated.
“At inception, the system was projected as robust and transparent, with clear visibility of institutions receiving payments. Kenyans could see where money was going. But that transparency was short-lived.”
SHA fraud
Muturi pointed to reports of payments to non-existent health facilities in northern Kenya as an early warning sign of deeper systemic flaws.
He further linked the purported opacity in SHA operations to the ongoing leadership disputes at Nairobi Hospital, suggesting that control of such a major institution could be key to managing large-scale financial flows.
Muturi insisted that the pattern points to a broader strategy of consolidating control over high-profile health institutions.
“The moment Kenyans, together with the Auditor General began raising red flags particularly on questionable payments for services in Mandera County and Wajir County to facilities that do not exist that transparency was abruptly withdrawn. The system was shut off from public view,” Muturi wrote on X.
“It is therefore not surprising that there are now attempts to acquire Nairobi Hospital. Once such a major institution is brought into the fold, it becomes easier to attribute huge sums of money to it, knowing very well that Kenyans will not question payments tied to a known facility.”
Gachagua-Duale spat
Muturi’s remarks come amid a war of words between former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale over financial flaws at SHA.
The disagreement escalated after Gachagua, while addressing congregants at the ACK Diocese of Kirinyaga in Ndia Constituency on Sunday, March 29, 2026, warned that the SHA risks collapsing within six months.
He said faith-based and other hospitals are owed about Ksh90 billion and urged medical facilities to demand upfront payments or immediate settlement before offering further services.
In response, Duale dismissed the claims as “reckless”. He challenged Gachagua to present the dossier he had previously mentioned regarding the alleged Ksh90 billion owed to faith-based organisations running medical facilities.
Duale also addressed claims that he holds a 17 per cent stake in Convergence Network Limited, a firm linked to SHA’s IT infrastructure.
He asked Gachagua to produce the official CR12 document from the Business Registration Service, which lists company shareholders and directors, saying it would confirm he has “no ownership, direct or indirect”.
The Health CS further rejected assertions that the government contracted a consortium including Safaricom PLC, Konvergenz Network Solutions, and Convergence Network Limited to operate SHA at a cost of Ksh104 billion.
According to Duale, the arrangement in place is a lawful IT infrastructure contract that has been affirmed by the courts. He urged Gachagua to make public any purported agreement if it exists.