Mumias East Member of Parliament Peter Salasya has demanded that Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale address outstanding healthcare debts in Kakamega County, calling for the immediate release of funds owed to health facilities under the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Social Health Authority (SHA).

In a statement posted on his X account on September 2, 2025, Salasya outlined specific debt amounts and criticised what he described as inadequate government allocations to address the healthcare financing crisis.

According to Salasya, NHIF owes health facilities in the county Ksh143 million, while SHA has accumulated debts of Ksh37 million, creating significant cash flow problems for healthcare providers.

“I am demanding that as CS Aden Duale comes tomorrow in Kakamega, he must order the release of Ksh143 million from NHIF debt and Ksh37 million debt from SHA,” Salasya stated.

He dismissed recent government allocations as insufficient to address the magnitude of the healthcare debt crisis in the county.

“These small amounts of Ksh2.5 million is like a drop in an ocean,” he said.

SHA payment dispute

Salasya’s remarks come days after Kakamega Catholic Bishop Joseph Obanyi refuted claims by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi that a hospital run by the church in Mumias had received Ksh82 million from the Social Health Authority (SHA), saying the facility has only accessed a fraction of that amount.

Speaking to a local media station on August 29, 2025, the bishop explained that since June, the hospital has only received about Ksh9 million, funds that were strictly designated for the renal unit.

“Since June of this year up to now, we may have received about nine million, which is actually designated for the renal unit,” Obanyi stated.

“Now the hospital itself has not received any money that it can call money that has come as claims from SHA, which will easily go to the patients,” the bishop explained.

The Bishop accused Mudavadi of politicking with the struggles of poor patients who depend on the mission hospital, stating that the government has yet to address this financial crisis.

“So, talking about 82 million that has been disbursed and then the hospital is still closed is cheap pure politics. We need the money, and then we will arrive. This is not the government hospital; it’s a mission hospital that serves the poor people, so we cannot make politics out of the poor people,” the bishop stated.