Senator Methu says SHA works like Aviator
By Nancy Marende, March 4, 2026Nyandarua Senator John Methu has criticised the Social Health Authority (SHA) medical insurance programme, saying it functions inconsistently and leaves health facilities struggling.
Speaking in an interview at a local TV station on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, Methu likened the SHA system to an aviator, explaining that it serves one person in a facility, jumps over several others, and then moves on, leaving gaps in care.
“It looks like President William Ruto operates with the mantra: give somebody poison, then follow him with milk so that he does not die. This SHA works like an aviator; it will serve one person here, jump like 15 people, and go to the 23rd person. Most private and faith-based facilities are no longer accepting SHA because payments are not being made.”
The senator further questioned the government’s commitment to promised developments, asking why initiatives personally endorsed by President Ruto often fail to materialise.
“How come every development that the President promises with his own mouth does not happen? How come the President is so comfortable lying? He lies without ceasing.”
SHA
This comes a day after SHA announced a major service interruption affecting its digital health platform, disrupting pre-authorisation services across contracted healthcare facilities nationwide.
In a public notice dated March 2, 2026, SHA Chief Executive Officer Mercy Mwangangi said the outage followed a critical system failure on March 1 that rendered key services provided through the Digital Health Agency unavailable.
The disruption has directly affected pre-authorisation processes, a core component of SHA operations that enables hospitals and clinics to seek approval for specific treatments and procedures before offering services to patients under the national health scheme.
“Following a critical system failure on 1st March 2026, the SHA digital platform has experienced downtime. This outage has interrupted essential healthcare service delivery across contracted healthcare facilities, specifically affecting pre-authorisation processes,” the notice reads in part.
SHA acknowledged the gravity of the interruption, particularly for healthcare providers who rely on the system for approvals and claims processing.
“We understand the critical nature of these services for your daily operations and patient care, and we sincerely apologise for the significant inconvenience and disruption this is causing,” the authority said.
The agency added that its technical teams are working closely with the Digital Health Agency to resolve what it termed as a “major incident” that has led to significant system unavailability.
“Our technical teams, in close collaboration with the Digital Health Agency, are fully mobilised and working with the highest urgency to identify the root cause and restore full functionality as quickly as possible,” the statement said