The fake hospitals scandal at the Social Health Authority (SHA) is one of the clearest signs of how corruption is killing Kenya’s dream of universal healthcare.

Billions of shillings meant to provide citizens with proper medical services are being looted through ghost facilities, fake admissions, and inflated bills. Instead of using this money to ensure free and quality healthcare, it is going into the pockets of fraudsters operating under the protection of government officials.

What is most disturbing is how many of these fake hospitals are concentrated in North Eastern, raising questions about who is really benefiting from the system.

The Authority was meant to replace the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in late 2024 to fix the mess and advance universal health coverage.

Instead, it has inherited and even expanded the fraud patterns of NHIF. Just like before, there are reports of fake procedures, ghost patients, and hospitals that exist only on paper but receive millions of taxpayer money.

A shocking case exposed a non-existent hospital in Homa Bay that received Sh20, with the location turning out to be a thicket.

Kandiege Sub-County Hospital was allocated Sh54, yet only Sh14 million ever reached patients. Even worse, Hanano Nursing Home in North Eastern, which does not exist, was given more than Sh4 million.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale took over as Health Cabinet Secretary in March 2025, and under his watch, the rot has only deepened.

Duale has tried to parade crackdowns, announcing the closure of over a thousand facilities and suspending others for fake accreditation.

Yet at the same time, his own family has been dragged into the scandal. His brother is alleged to own Medina hospital chains in Wajir and Mandera, which are accused of laundering Social Health Authority funds.

This alone shows the double standards at play. While the public is told the government is fighting fraud, those with power appear to be protecting their own interests.

In Mandera, Tumticha Hospital was registered as a 30-bed facility but does not even have beds, yet it keeps receiving payments.

A facility in Wajir claimed 56 inpatients despite having only 16 beds. Three hospitals in the same region each pocketed over 3 million shillings while serving very few people.

In just a few months, over 500 private facilities were registered in Wajir alone, and nearly 90 percent were later shut down as fake. This is not coincidence it is organized theft.

Meanwhile, genuine hospitals such as St. Mary’s in Mumias are still waiting for over Sh39 million owed to them, and private hospitals across the country complain of delayed payments that have pushed them to financial distress.

The government claims to have removed millions of ghost patients and rolled out biometric registration to tighten the system, but the fact that money still flows to nonexistent facilities shows the measures are cosmetic.

Duale is quick to issue warnings and make promises, but real accountability is missing.

The Authority even entered a questionable Sh104 billion digital contract signed without tender, with disputes to be resolved outside Kenya, tying the government’s hands and raising serious oversight concerns.

This deal, approved under Duale’s leadership, seems designed to benefit private interests while leaving taxpayers at risk.

What Kenyans see is a healthcare system collapsing under corruption, while leaders like Aden Duale stand at the center of it making empty declarations. If the billions stolen through ghost hospitals were properly used, Kenya could already be providing free and quality healthcare.

Instead, ordinary citizens continue to pay out of pocket, especially when the SHA system fails, while the well-connected siphon money unchecked.

The scandal is not just theft, it is the betrayal of millions of Kenyans who deserve dignity in healthcare.