RUPHA Exposes Deep Faults in Duale’s Fight Against Fraud in Social Health Authority
In a bold statement on Sunday, August 24, RUPHA warned that the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) is too weak to regulate health facilities.
RUPHA Raises the Red Flag
According to RUPHA, KMPDC is financially crippled and lacks the manpower to monitor hospitals across Kenya. This, they say, has allowed fake and unregulated facilities to thrive unchecked.
“KMPDC has no capacity to verify bed capacity or ascertain fake facilities. They have no ground teams. They rely on county officials,” RUPHA stated.
The association further accused the council of “selling” hospital licenses to unqualified players just to remain afloat.
“KMPDC has suffered budget cuts each year, and it will just sell hospital licenses to stay alive. As the regulator, it should verify fake hospitals, not depend on remote officers,” RUPHA added.
Fraud in SHA Digitisation
RUPHA also raised tough questions about the ongoing healthcare digitisation project led by Apeiro, SHA’s partner. They claimed the migration of accounts from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) database was careless and dangerous.
“The bank accounts that Apeiro uses to pay hospitals were migrated directly from the NHIF database, with virtually no clean-up. ‘Fraud detection’ is being done manually by a team of young clinicians whose employer and terms of employment are not known,” the association stated.
These gaps, according to RUPHA, have left Kenyans vulnerable to fraudulent claims and exploitation.
Ghost Hospital Controversy
The revelations came just days after SHA defended itself against reports that it paid KSh20 million to a “ghost hospital” in Nyandiwa, Homa Bay.
Critics had circulated images of a deserted facility, accusing SHA of channeling funds to non-existent hospitals.
However, SHA CEO Mercy Mwangangi dismissed the allegations.
“The Social Health Authority has noted with concern a misleading article claiming SHA disbursed KSh20 million to a ghost facility. These claims are false and misleading,” she insisted.
Mwangangi explained that the Nyandiwa facility has existed since the 1970s and remains functional. She maintained the KSh20 million represented legitimate, accumulated claims.
“The allocation was duly processed under SHA’s strict verification and payment protocols,” she clarified.
Growing Pressure
With RUPHA’s damning claims, pressure now mounts on Health CS Aden Duale to confront gaps in SHA’s operations. Many Kenyans fear that unless immediate reforms are enforced, fraud will cripple the dream of universal healthcare.
For now, the fight against fraud seems far from over, and public trust in Kenya’s health system hangs by a thread.
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RUPHA Exposes Deep Faults in Duale’s Fight Against Fraud in Social Health Authority
