Kacheliba MP pressures Duale to arrest senior officials amid SHA controversy

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kacheliba Constituency, Titus Lotee, has called on Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to take decisive action by arresting senior officials linked to claims of fraud at the Social Health Authority (SHA).

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Monday, August 26, 2025, Lotee said the ongoing claims highlight serious questions about conflicts of interest among senior SHA personnel.

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“The SHA scandal should not make us think that we are sinking; it should teach us a lesson as a country that we have problems we need to confront. The first thing CS Duale needs to do is to arrest everybody, including senior officials; heads need to start rolling,” Lotee said.

System failures under scrutiny

Lotee observed that while SHA was intended to be a game-changer for Kenya’s health system, the allegations point to deep-rooted issues reminiscent of past NHIF challenges.

He noted that the SHA system, a multi-billion shilling IT platform designed to curb fraudulent claims, was meant to prevent the kind of abuses previously seen in NHIF, including impossible medical procedures and falsified records.

“Unless those responsible are held accountable, unless we see heads rolling and arrests made, we will not have truly addressed the problems that plagued NHIF,” Lotee emphasised.

He called for decisive communication from the government to restore public confidence in the health system, stressing that SHA’s positive aspects should not be overshadowed by the alleged fraud.

Crackdown continues

This comes a day after CS Duale revealed that claims worth Ksh5.1 billion submitted to SHA were under re-evaluation and surveillance as the government cracks down on fraudulent billing by health facilities.

Duale also disclosed that claims worth Ksh10 billion had already been rejected, citing practices such as upcoding, falsification of medical records, and billing for non-existent patients.

The revelation comes after claims on Social media that questioned how facilities allegedly connected to SHA leadership received substantial allocations while entire counties received minimal funding.

Addressing the concern, Duale confirmed that SHA chairman Abdi Mohamed used to own Ladnan Hospital but dismissed any conflict of interest.

“Social Health Authority (SHA) chairman Abdi Mohamed used to own Ladnan Hospital; there is no conflict of interest,” Duale noted.

The CS earlier had confirmed that twelve health officials and several hospitals will be handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for further investigations, who were found to be involved in defrauding the Social Health Authority.