Khalwale questions Duale’s education credentials amid SHA crisis
By Kenneth Mwenda, September 6, 2025Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has questioned Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale’s academic background as the row over the Social Health Insurance (SHA) Fund deepens. He suggested that Kenyans are still in the dark about what the CS studied in school, linking the uncertainty to his handling of the health crisis.
“Huyu waziri wako Duale, ambaye katika maisha yake, wakenya hatujui alisomea nini. Afadhali mtoto wetu hapa tunajua alisomea degree in nursing. Lakini wale hatujui ako na degree ya kuchunga ngamia, ama ni masomo gani,” Khalwale said on Saturday, September 6, 2025.
The lawmaker was in Ibuchifi village in Mumias West, attending the burial of schoolboy David Keya Watitwa, a murder victim of the notorious 42 Brothers gang that has been terrorising villagers.
Khalwale argued that residents expected Duale’s recent visit to St Mary’s Hospital to secure its reopening, but were instead met with politics around SHA payments. The senator said the hospital remains closed because the government has not cleared outstanding reimbursements.
The lawmaker, who is also a medical doctor, told President William Ruto that unless the scheme’s problems are addressed, hospitals will continue to collapse.
“Hospitali yetu ya kutegemea ni St Mary’s, na imefunga. Na sababu yenye kufunga, ni sababu ya mambo ya bima; Insurance. Mr President, I’m a professional; listen to me. I’m telling you what other doctors would want to tell you lakini hawana nafasi ya kukwambia,” he said.
Hospital starved
He had earlier stated that while St Mary’s remains shut, SHA has disbursed huge sums to other hospitals. Khalwale claimed the government had already paid Ksh 295 million to a facility in Pangani, accusing the ministry of running “a scandalous enterprise of monumental proportions.”
Mumias East MP Peter Salasya has also taken aim at Duale. In August, he accused SHA of practising “medical terrorism” by withholding money collected from ordinary Kenyans instead of paying mission and private hospitals. He demanded that Duale resign if he cannot guarantee that hospitals are funded.
The attacks highlight growing pressure on the government to resolve delays in SHA disbursements. Hospitals across the country say the new scheme has created cash flow problems, while health workers warn that services are collapsing.
Khalwale ended his Kakamega speech with a direct appeal:
“Our people are dying. Sisi tunataka hospitali ifunguliwe. Na kufungua hospitali Mr President ni kulipa ile pesa hospitali inadai bima yako ya SHA.”