Money meant to improve health services for Kenyans is once again raising questions after the Social Health Authority (SHA) disbursed Sh20 million to a dispensary that has been abandoned for more than a decade.
The case of Nyandiwa Dispensary in Homa Bay County paints a disturbing picture of how funds are being handled under the watch of SHA leadership led by Dr. Mercy Mwangangi and Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.
While the leadership insists on blaming clerical mistakes, what is clear is that taxpayers are losing millions to a system that appears porous and poorly managed.
Nyandiwa Dispensary, which has not been operational for 10 years, was listed as a recipient of SHA funds in August 2025.
The building itself is a ghostly shell with closed doors, peeling paint and no staff or patients. Yet records show it was licensed last year by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council and marked as active on SHA’s systems.
This raises the critical question of how an abandoned structure, known by both county and ministry officials to be defunct, was able to pass inspections, obtain a licence, and then be paid millions.
The official explanation has been that the money was mistakenly sent to Nyandiwa Dispensary instead of Nyandiwa Level Four Hospital.
However, this excuse exposes deep gaps in accountability. How could such a glaring error slip through multiple layers of checks?
If indeed it was a simple case of confusion, then what confidence can Kenyans have in a system that moves billions of shillings every month to hospitals across the country?
Health CS Duale admitted that Nyandiwa was never completed or commissioned, yet his ministry still allowed its bank details to remain active in the system.
Dr. Mwangangi, who chairs the SHA board, has remained silent on how her authority approved claims from non-existent facilities.
This silence is unacceptable because residents who were meant to benefit from Nyandiwa’s services are now forced to travel long distances to seek treatment in Oyugis, Rangwe, or Rachuonyo Sub-County Hospital. Pregnant women, children and the sick are left to suffer while ghost hospitals receive funds.
The scandal extends beyond Nyandiwa. Other hospitals have also received money meant for different facilities, with funds redirected to accounts that do not match the intended recipients.
For example, Masogo Health Centre’s allocation was diverted to Siaya, and Gongo Health Centre never got its money. These so-called errors keep recurring, suggesting not clerical mistakes but systemic failure, negligence, or worse.
As residents of Homa Bay pointed out, they have waited for years for Nyandiwa to be revived, only to learn it has been collecting millions while remaining deserted.
Their shock highlights the betrayal of trust by leaders tasked with safeguarding public health. Instead of excuses, SHA leadership under Dr. Mwangangi and CS Duale must take full responsibility.
They owe Kenyans transparency, proper investigations, and immediate reforms to stop the bleeding of public money. Anything less would be a betrayal of the very people this health fund was created to serve.
