Salasya blasts Ruto govt over SHA delays crippling private hospitals
By Mabonga Makhanu, August 9, 2025Mumias East MP Peter Salasya has criticised President William Ruto over the ongoing issues surrounding the Social Health Authority (SHA).
In a statement posted on his X account on Saturday, August 9, 2025, Salasya called on the government to be considerate of Kenyans and show sympathy for the hardships they are facing during this difficult month of August, a time marked by numerous accidents.
He further stated that it is during this period that many mission and private hospitals are either closing down or struggling to survive. These private hospitals provide services to Kenyans with the expectation that SHA will remit funds to them, but SHA has repeatedly failed to make these payments. As a result, many private hospitals are unable to pay their workers or purchase essential drugs for treatment.
“I ask the government of William Ruto to be considerate to Kenyans and sympathise with the hardships that Kenyans are undergoing in this bad month of August, the months of accidents everywhere, and it’s only in this season of SHA that we are witnessing the closure of many mission hospitals or private hospitals,” Salasya stated.
Empowerment programmes
Salasya pointed out that some hospitals that have endured hardships for over 50 years, such as St Mary’s Mumias Hospital, are now shutting down. He described the government’s economic empowerment efforts targeting boda boda operators without strengthening the healthcare system as futile.
“This has made many private hospitals unable to pay their workers and even to buy drugs for treatment. Hospitals that have survived hard times for more than 50 years in the industry are now closing up, like St Mary’s Mumias Hospital. Their poor economic empowerment of KK to Boda Boda without a proper healthcare system is still vanity,” he added.
He expressed solidarity with all private hospitals that rely heavily on SHA, stating that the authority has failed them miserably by not fulfilling its financial obligations. Salasya warned that this situation is not only a punishment to private hospitals but to all Kenyans since public hospitals do not have the capacity to handle all emergency healthcare cases.