National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has defended the health reforms introduced in 2023, saying the new system is helping Kenya confront corruption, ghost health facilities and inflated medical claims that had weakened the country’s healthcare system under the former NHIF arrangement.
Speaking at the Kenya Health Summit 2026 in Nairobi on Tuesday, Wetang’ula said Parliament backed the reforms after recognising the difficulties faced by ordinary Kenyans, including families forced to struggle with hospital bills and negotiate for the release of patients and bodies from hospitals and mortuaries.
“The National Hospital Insurance Fund, born in 1966 and governed by the 1998 Act had long since been overtaken by the structure of our economy and dynamic social needs,” he said.
Wetang’ula said the NHIF system had been hit by “massive corruption”, with ghost clinics, inflated claims and collusion involving rogue medical facilities and state officials.
He said Parliament responded by passing four major health laws in 2023, describing them as “the most consequential body of social legislation enacted by any Parliament in Kenya since independence.”
The laws are the Primary Health Care Act, Facility Improvement Financing Act, Digital Health Act and Social Health Insurance Act. They were all assented to by President William Ruto on October 19, 2023.
Wetang’ula said the laws established a new framework for primary healthcare networks, allowed public health facilities to have greater control over their revenue, introduced a digital health system and created new funds to support healthcare financing.
He said the reforms had also widened access to healthcare, with more than 30 million Kenyans now registered under universal health coverage, compared with about eight million people who were registered under NHIF.
However, parliamentary oversight of the new system has continued to reveal challenges in its implementation.
An assessment by the National Assembly Health Committee of 10 health facilities found inconsistent SHA reimbursements, unresolved arrears inherited from NHIF, unpaid claims, erroneous payments and frequent failures of the system.
Separate inspections by the Senate also found shortages of health workers and equipment, incomplete health infrastructure, poor management of medicines and weaknesses in financial controls in county hospitals.
Some Level 4 and Level 5 facilities were also found to be struggling to meet national quality standards.
Wetang’ula acknowledged that staffing, preventive healthcare and accountability remain areas that require attention.
He called for health professionals, including medical consultants, to be deployed more fairly across the country so that Kenyans in rural areas can access services comparable to those available in urban centres.
“Preventive and promotive care should be more enhanced to avoid costly curative remedies,” he said.
The Speaker called for greater focus on regular medical check-ups, proper nutrition, physical fitness, immunisation and counselling as part of efforts to prevent illnesses before they become more costly to treat.
Wetang’ula also demanded stronger action against health facilities and individuals accused of misusing or siphoning public funds from the sector.
“Cases of hemorrhaging funds from the healthcare system by individuals and health facilities, whether public must be checked, and those found culpable must face the consequences,” he said.
He said Parliament would continue financing and monitoring the health sector while working with the Auditor-General to ensure public funds allocated to healthcare are properly used.
“We will ensure appropriated funds are put to proper use,” he said.