NYERI, Kenya, Sep 5 — Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has rallied residents to register for the Social Health Authority (SHA), saying access to healthcare should not be reduced to a political issue as he hailed Community Health Promoters (CHPs) for helping reduce the disease burden.
Speaking during a Jamii Imara Mashinani engagement led by Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni in Nyeri, Kahiga thanked residents for heeding his earlier call to embrace SHA when the programme was introduced in the county.
“Sickness is a personal matter. It has nothing to do with politics, and it has nothing to do with His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua or His Excellency William Ruto,” Kahiga said.
He urged those who have not registered for SHA to do so, saying nearly 507,000 people in Nyeri had registered, with the figure approaching 600,000.
“Now that SHA is here, can we register today?” he asked residents.
Kahiga argued that illness affects individuals regardless of their political affiliation, urging residents to focus on securing access to healthcare rather than listening to political arguments over the scheme.
“If you get sick, is it President Ruto who will be sick? Is it the teacher? … You will be sick all by yourself,” he said.
He illustrated the potential financial burden of hospitalisation, citing a hypothetical case of a patient spending five days in an intensive care unit and running up a Sh300,000 bill, saying SHA could help ease such costs.
Kahiga acknowledged that the handling of hospital debt collection remained a concern for the county, but maintained that residents should recognise the benefit of having health insurance coverage.
“My only issue is that [the debt collection] is left to the county, but don’t you see you have been helped?” he asked.
Kahiga hails CHPs
The governor also praised CHPs for their role in taking healthcare closer to households, saying available data indicates their work is beginning to reduce the disease burden.
“The data shows that the work you are doing has started to reduce our disease burden,” Kahiga said.
He described the CHPs as “wonderful” and “amazing” people, saying he takes his hat off to them whenever he meets them.
Kahiga also acknowledged his close working relationship with Muthoni on the community health programme.
“We work very closely with PS Muthoni on your work,” he said.
He called on the CHPs to intensify their mobilisation for SHA registration, asking them to identify households where residents had not enrolled and encourage them to sign up.
“When you go to a house and find someone who hasn’t joined, push them until they register,” he said.
