David Ndii, the Chairperson of the Presidential Council for Economic Advisors, has denied claims that the government spent Ksh104 billion to acquire the Social Health Authority (SHA) management system.
In a statement on his X account, Ndii defended President William Ruto’s administration, clarifying that while the system is outsourced, no government funds have been used to purchase it.
He explained that the Ksh104 billion represents user fees charged by the system’s owners, payable over a ten-year contract period.
“The UHC digital platform is fully outsourced. The Government of Kenya has not spent one Ksh on it. Ksh104 billion is user fees payable over a 10-year contract period,” Ndii clarified.
David Ndii stated that last year, Kenyans spent Ksh77 billion on user fees paid to a major mobile service provider.
He explained that the new SHA system would offer a similar service but at a significantly lower cost—Ksh10 billion annually, translating to about Ksh50 per hospital visit per person.
Ndii’s clarification came after some Kenyans took to social media to criticize the government’s decision to invest billions in the new health system, which they argued was ineffective.
Ndii’s clarification also followed a report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu who alleged that despite massive investment into the new health system that manages SHA, the government neither owned nor controlled the system.
In her report, Gathungu revealed that despite the multi-billion expenditure on the system, the government did not hold any intellectual property rights, thus limiting its authority over the system.
As per the report, the procurement of the system did not undergo a competitive bidding process as required by the constitution, with the Auditor General claiming that the contractor was sourced directly.
“This process was contrary to Article 227(1), which requires a fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective way of acquiring goods and services,” Gathungu stated.
Gathungu also claimed that any disputes related to the contract between the government and the system owners would be settled by the London Court of International Arbitration instead of local courts.