Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has defended the government's digital health system service fee, dismissing allegations that public funds collected through the national digital health platform are being unlawfully channelled to a private company.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Duale rejected reports questioning the legality of the fee, insisting that the charges are anchored in law and are critical to sustaining Kenya's digital health infrastructure.
"My attention has been drawn to the report carried by the
Daily Nation
on 4th August 2026 concerning the service fee levied on claims processed through the national digital health system," Duale said.
"The report creates the impression that public money is being paid to a private company outside the law. That impression is wrong, and I reject it."
The Cabinet Secretary said digitisation is central to the implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), arguing that the country's health financing system cannot effectively function without a secure and integrated digital platform.
"You cannot register, verify and pay for the healthcare of every Kenyan on paper," Duale said, adding that the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023 requires member identification, pre-authorisation, claims management and settlement of claims to be conducted through "a secure, interoperable and verifiable information system."
He said the government had undertaken an unprecedented reform by placing the country's entire health financing system on a single digital platform, noting that such infrastructure requires continuous development, maintenance and financing.
Addressing concerns over the service charge, Duale said the fee is neither arbitrary nor open-ended. He cited the Digital Health (Data Exchange Component) Regulations, 2025, which require users of the shared health information system to pay a service fee prescribed under the law.
According to the regulations, the Health Information Management Service (HIMS) fee is set at two per cent of the service offered through the platform, subject to a maximum charge of Sh5,000.
"It is therefore a capped fee for the use of a system. It is not an open-ended share of any hospital's earnings," he said.
Duale further clarified that the fee is paid directly to the Digital Health Agency, a state agency established under the Digital Health Act, 2023, to operate the Comprehensive Integrated Health Information System.
"This is a charge by a public body, for a public system, authorised by statute," he said.
The Health CS also dismissed suggestions that private firms control or disburse public healthcare funds.
"No private entity receives, holds, controls or disburses funds due to healthcare providers," he said.
He explained that the Social Health Authority (SHA) alone is responsible for reviewing, processing and paying claims submitted by contracted healthcare providers, adding that the responsibility has "not been delegated to any private party."
On concerns over accountability, Duale said every shilling received by the Digital Health Agency is public money and is subject to constitutional oversight.
"There is no parallel account and no hidden ledger. There is the ordinary constitutional process of public audit, and it applies here exactly as it applies to every other State agency," he said.
Duale acknowledged that the digital health system is being implemented under a government contract with the Safaricom Consortium, procured in accordance with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
However, he said engaging subcontractors under the contract is a lawful commercial arrangement and does not entitle them to receive or distribute public funds.
"The engagement of a sub-contractor by a contracted party is a lawful commercial arrangement. It does not make that subcontractor a recipient of public funds outside the law, and it gives it no role whatsoever in paying hospitals," he said.
The Cabinet Secretary also noted that the regulations governing the service fee underwent public participation, regulatory impact assessment and parliamentary approval before being published in the Kenya Gazette in April 2025.
Duale said the matter is now before the High Court and pledged that the government would respond through the judicial process rather than litigate the issue in public.
"The Government will file its full response on the record, and I will abide by the determination of the court. I will not litigate this matter in the press," he said.
He also appealed to healthcare providers to continue engaging with the Social Health Authority and the Digital Health Agency to resolve outstanding claims and improve the system.
"My door is not closed," he said. "Where the system can be improved, we will improve it."
Duale reaffirmed the government's commitment to Taifa Care saying; "Let me be clear. Every shilling under Taifa Care belongs to the Kenyan patient."