President Ruto's Bold Crusade: Unmasking Billions in Health Sector Corruption

President William Ruto has issued a strong call for national unity and an unwavering fight against corruption, asserting that no individual's title, rank, office, or region will provide immunity from accountability. Speaking in Kapsabet, Nandi County, during the installation ceremony of Bishop John Kiplimo Lelei as the inaugural bishop of the Kapsabet Catholic Diocese, President Ruto emphasized that Kenya's progress hinges on eliminating division, tribalism, and graft. He stated that by working together to eradicate corruption, theft of public property, and divisive politics, the nation could be transformed, expressing confidence in Kenya's future greatness.
This anti-corruption drive is backed by the establishment of a multi-agency team comprising institutions such as the EACC, ODPP, and the Asset Recovery Agency. The President also addressed regulatory violations in health facilities, vowing that such institutions would be held accountable. In a gesture of support for the church, President Ruto pledged government cooperation to aid the growth of the new diocese. Nandi Governor Stephen Sang congratulated Bishop Lelei, assuring his support and thanking Uasin Gishu Bishop Dominic Kimengich for his past oversight. Bishop Lelei expressed his readiness to serve and requested support from fellow bishops. President Ruto is also scheduled to return to Nandi in October for a development tour.
President Ruto further intensified his anti-corruption stance, specifically targeting the health sector. He declared that the government would not pay the Sh30 billion debt claimed by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) unless every single claim is thoroughly verified. Speaking at St Peter’s ACK Cathedral in Siaya County, he highlighted that the transition from NHIF to the new Social Health Authority (SHA) had exposed widespread fraud in hospital claims. He questioned why certain hospitals were attempting to block verification through legal action, suggesting they feared exposure of fraudulent billing practices. Ruto firmly stated, “We are not going to pay unless we verify, because we are not going to use public funds to pay corrupt people.”
The outgoing NHIF has been plagued by years of corruption scandals, including questionable claims, inflated procurement, and weak oversight, with Auditor-General reports repeatedly flagging irregularities. President Ruto asserted that SHA’s digital reforms are precisely designed to detect fraud and ensure accountability. He issued a stern warning that any hospital found to have defrauded NHIF would face legal action, and similar conduct under SHA would incur severe penalties. Furthermore, he championed the rollout of e-procurement across government as a crucial measure to combat inflated pricing, accusing some procurement and accounting officers of resisting the system to protect corrupt deals. "Something that costs Sh2 has been sold to us at Sh10. That era is ending,” he declared, urging those opposed to reforms to leave government service.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi supported the President's assertions, revealing that a preliminary review in six counties had uncovered systemic theft by hospitals, where funds were taken without services being rendered. Mbadi urged accounting officers to resist pressure from procurement staff seeking to maintain corrupt practices and clarified that the e-procurement platform, acquired in 2020 at Sh370 million, was not the Sh5 billion alleged in some reports. President Ruto, accompanied by local leaders and faithful during his visits to Siaya, reiterated that the corruption unearthed in SHA was a direct result of systems his administration has implemented to detect fraud. He reaffirmed his commitment to holding all implicated individuals accountable and compelling them to refund stolen public funds, vowing to sustain his anti-graft campaign.
The fight against corruption in the health sector and President Ruto’s re-election campaign were also central themes at a youth economic empowerment event in Narok County. Lawmakers, led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, staunchly defended Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale against growing calls for his resignation amid allegations of a multi-billion-shilling scandal within SHA. These MPs lauded CS Duale for what they described as bold reforms aimed at dismantling powerful cartels in the health sector. They attributed the political and media attacks targeting Duale to "vested interests" engineering efforts to derail the cleanup of the system, asserting that "corruption fights back." Ichung’wah further alleged that cartels were behind recent demands for Duale’s resignation and vowed to expose legislators colluding with corrupt networks.
Earlier, a group of MPs and Senators, including Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, had accused Duale and SHA Chairman Abdi Mohamed of overseeing a fraudulent health scheme, claiming SHA had become a conduit for looting under the guise of universal health coverage. In response, Ichung’wah cited four key bills passed by Parliament—the Primary Health Care Bill, Facility Improvement Financing Bill, Digital Health Bill, and Social Health Insurance Bill—as concrete evidence of the government's commitment to reforms. He explained that the digital healthcare law specifically enables real-time, data-driven decisions, countering those who previously profited from manual systems. Ugenya MP David Ochieng and Uriri MP Mark Nyamita urged President Ruto to take even firmer action, with Ochieng suggesting public naming of culprits and Nyamita stressing the importance of punishing offenders to restore public trust. President Ruto warned that those who thought they could replicate the theft carried out at the defunct NHIF were "daydreaming," insisting on accountability and stating his government would not bow to detractors.
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