For thousands of vulnerable families in Murang’a, a trip to hospital no longer means choosing between treatment and financial survival.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata says that reality inspired the creation of Kang’ata Care, a county-funded programme that now supports about 40,000 households after growing from a personal mission into one of the county’s biggest social protection initiatives.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Monday, Kang’ata said the programme traces its roots to painful memories from his childhood, when he witnessed how illness placed immense pressure on families, including his own.
Those experiences, he said, convinced him that poor households needed a system that could shield them from the burden of paying medical bills out of pocket.
“Personal experience as a person growing up is where I saw how sickness impacts families, including my own family when I was young,” Kang’ata said.
He said the concept was later refined during his time in the Senate after engaging with the then National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) chief executive, leading to a partnership that enabled the county government to settle insurance premiums for vulnerable residents.
Instead of leaving families to struggle with hospital expenses whenever they fell sick, the county committed itself to paying monthly contributions on behalf of those who qualified for the programme.
“So that time we entered into an agreement with NHIF where the out-of-pocket expenditure that people pay… we pay on behalf of a certain set of people. The county government pays,” Kang’ata said.
He explained that beneficiaries are picked through an open vetting exercise that considers factors including poverty levels, age and chronic illnesses.
Once the selection process is complete, successful applicants are registered before the county begins paying their premiums.
Kang’ata said the programme has grown beyond providing health insurance. Following the transition from NHIF to the Social Health Authority (SHA), some benefits that were previously offered through the public scheme are now provided through a partnership with private insurer Britam.
Under the expanded package, members receive Sh10,000 after the birth of a child, Sh10,000 upon an official civil or church wedding, Sh100,000 in funeral support and a one-off Sh20,000 school fees payment if a deceased member leaves behind a child in high school.
“If you are in Kang’ata Care and you get a baby, you get Sh10,000. If you marry officially… you get Sh10,000. If you pass on and you leave a child in high school, you get Sh20,000 one-off payment for school fees,” he said.
The governor also dismissed reports claiming every Murang’a resident automatically qualifies for the programme, saying the benefits are reserved strictly for registered members.
“I have seen media people twist that… That’s not true. It is purely those who are in the scheme,” he clarified.
According to Kang’ata, the programme currently reaches about 40,000 households, translating to roughly 160,000 residents. He said the figure is based on the county’s poverty rate of about 23 per cent and is intended to ensure support goes to those who are least able to meet their daily needs.
The programme was first launched by the Murang'a County Government in late 2022 as a partnership with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), targeting 20,000 vulnerable households before gradually expanding over the years.
Governor Kang'ata unveiled the scheme in November 2022, describing it as a social health insurance initiative aimed at reducing the financial burden of medical care among poor families, with beneficiaries beginning to access services from January 2023.