Religious leaders demand release of SHA funds to hospitals, warn patients’ health is at risk

Religious leaders have called on the Social Health Authority (SHA) to urgently release funds owed to hospitals, warning that delayed payments are crippling essential services and threatening the country’s push for universal healthcare.

The clerics, led by the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), accused the authority of undermining the very reforms it was created to protect by failing to clear debts owed to health facilities.

The ACK leadership said that while the church acknowledges the reforms introduced under the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and SHA, the piling debts have forced several hospitals to suspend services, leaving patients stranded.

“We demand with Kenyans that SHA put her house in order and prioritise payments of funds owed to all hospitals to enable them to continue to offer services,” Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit said during a press conference in Nairobi on Thursday.

The pressure on SHA comes as private hospitals under the Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) suspended services under the authority over unpaid bills amounting to Sh10 billion.

According to RUPHA chairman Brian Lishenga, all patients under the SHA will now have to pay in cash.

“The Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA), representing over 700 private and faith-based healthcare facilities across the country, has today taken the painful but necessary decision to suspend the provision of healthcare services on credit to the Social Health Authority (SHA),” Lishenga said.

He explained that the decision followed the expiry, at midnight on September 19, 2025, of a two-week notice issued on September 5.

“Our notice outlined specific concerns that had to be addressed for providers to continue extending credit to SHA. Unfortunately, none of these issues have been resolved,” he added.

Lishenga also cited discrimination in the settlement of claims, noting that instead of an automated “first-in, first-out” digital adjudication process, payments are now subject to human interference.

Ole Sapit warned that unless urgent measures are taken, the government’s universal healthcare agenda risks collapsing under inefficiencies, unpaid claims and disillusioned health service providers. He further urged SHA to uphold transparency and accountability in its operations to rebuild public trust in the new system.

At the same time, the church leaders expressed concern over the state of the education sector, citing delayed release of government capitation funds and the rising cost of learning as obstacles locking out thousands of learners from quality education.

Ole Sapit revealed that more than 42,000 qualified students failed to apply for university placement this year, attributing it to the growing affordability crisis. He also pressed the government to urgently resolve lecturers’ grievances, which he said have caused perennial strikes disrupting academic calendars and draining parents’ resources.

“The crisis in the education sector cannot just be wished away. Delayed capitation, coupled with an unaffordable education system, is putting learning beyond the reach of many. We call upon the government to release on time school and university capitation to enable these institutions to run smoothly,” the Archbishop said.

He lamented that constant strikes by university lecturers not only compromise education standards but also waste the time and money of parents and students. He urged the government to find a permanent solution to the long-standing grievances to end the cycle of industrial action in public universities.

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• Health
• Social Health Insurance Fund
• Social Health Authority
• Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) scheme
• ACK
• Anglican Church of Kenya
• SHA fraud
• SHA payments. health fund
• SHA payments
• Religious leaders demand release of SHA funds to hospitals
• warn patients’ health is at risk

On politics, Ole Sapit cautioned leaders against early campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections, urging them instead to prioritise service delivery.

“Whereas it is a democratic right for parties to campaign, we urge political leaders to focus more on service delivery and spare the nation from early campaigns,” he said.