Gatanga MP Edward Muriu has criticised the Social Health Authority (SHA), asserting that the initiative was never conceived as a genuine social healthcare system but rather as a politically motivated project orchestrated by the Kenya Kwanza administration.

According to the legislator, SHA was primarily designed as a procurement-driven scheme intended to benefit a select group of individuals with vested interests rather than serving the broader public good.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, Muriu called for the immediate disbandment of the SHA, arguing that the funds collected from Kenyans under the scheme should be refunded and that the country should revert to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

“SHA, in its entirety, should be dismantled without any further delay. Furthermore, every single Kenyan who contributed their hard-earned money to this scheme should be reimbursed in full. Thereafter, we must return to NHIF and ensure that it is properly reformed to genuinely serve the needs of the people,” he said.

Kenyan constitution

Muriu went further to underscore the fundamental principles upon which Kenya’s constitutional framework is built, particularly the notion that power ultimately resides with the people and is merely entrusted to elected representatives to exercise on their behalf.

He expressed concern that this principle of trust had been grossly violated in the establishment and implementation of the SHA, citing the Auditor General’s report as a damning indication of how public funds had been mismanaged under the guise of reforming the country’s healthcare system.

“Our Constitution is a trust-based document, and that is precisely why it contains a clause stipulating that power rests with the people, who, in turn, delegate that power to elected representatives—from the President all the way down. However, when an individual or an institution is entrusted with responsibilities and is granted the instruments of power on the fundamental principles of trust, only to then betray that trust, it becomes a matter of grave concern,” Muriu stated.

The MP went on to argue that the revelations surrounding SHA have only confirmed the long-standing suspicions held by many critics—that the initiative was never genuinely intended to provide universal healthcare access for Kenyans but was, instead, structured to facilitate the financial enrichment of a select few individuals.

According to Muriu, the procurement processes tied to SHA were deliberately designed in a manner that would allow certain well-connected entities to reap massive financial rewards at the expense of millions of ordinary citizens, who were led to believe that the new system would provide them with enhanced healthcare coverage.

“Oftentimes, we may find ourselves dismissing or underestimating the significance of the Auditor General’s findings. However, the reality of the matter is that the very concerns we have been raising regarding SHA have now been vindicated. It is now beyond dispute that this initiative was never meant to benefit the ordinary mwananchi. Rather, it was conceived with the sole intention of benefiting a select group of individuals who were well-positioned to exploit the system,” Muriu remarked.

In a sharp condemnation of the initiative, Muriu stated that the only logical course of action at this juncture was to immediately disband it and issue refunds to Kenyans who had been compelled to contribute to a system that was, in his view, fundamentally flawed from the outset.

“The Auditor General’s report has provided us with an unequivocal litmus test on the extent to which the government is failing in its obligation to manage public funds in a responsible and accountable manner. In the court of public opinion, the verdict is already evident. In life, one does not dwell on regret; instead, one must confront the issues at hand with decisiveness and resolve,” he declared.