The Controller of Budget declaring that she cannot see certain funds and levies because they sit outside the Consolidated Fund is a constitutional red flag. Article 206(1) of the Constitution establishes the Consolidated Fund as the central account into which all money raised or received by or on behalf of the national government must be paid, save for narrowly defined exceptions that an Act of Parliament must expressly authorise. By constitutional design, public money must be traceable and accountable. Anything less erodes the rule of law and weakens the foundations of public finance that the 2010 Constitution sought to entrench.
Legally, the National Treasury administers the Consolidated Fund, and the Controller of Budget must approve any withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund and other public funds under Article 206(4) and Article 228(5). The Constitution prohibits withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund unless the Controller has approved it and the withdrawal is in accordance with appropriation or other constitutional authority. When revenues are channelled into vehicles that do not pass through this framework, the Controller loses visibility and Parliament loses leverage. The Controller’s own warning in the Sovereign Wealth Fund debate, that a fund which does not first credit proceeds into the Consolidated Fund and is not subject to her prior approval risks operating as a parallel financial architecture outside the national budget framework, captures the main problem which is governance by discretion rather than by law.
The Controller of Budget’s National Government Budget Implementation Review Report for FY 2025/26 (July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026) records total travel expenditure of KSh 30.69 billion, comprising KSh 21.98 billion on domestic travel and KSh 8.71 billion on foreign travel. State House was the top spender on travel at KSh 2.5 billion (KSh 2.4 billion domestic, KSh 159 million foreign), followed by the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration (KSh 1.4 billion), the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services (KSh 1.1 billion), and the Office of the Deputy President (KSh 655 million). Such figures are troubling not just for their size but because they occur in a context where oversight is described as blind for certain funds and levies thus rendering promises of austerity difficult to enforce.
The Constitution does not entertain secret budgets. Every shilling raised from citizens must flow through proper channels with clear oversight by Parliament and independent offices such as the Controller of Budget and the Auditor-General. If money bypasses the Treasury, it bypasses the people’s control. That is poor administration and a departure from the constitutional order. The remedy is to route all revenue through the Consolidated Fund, publish full and timely accounts and empower auditors and Parliament to follow every shilling with enforceable rules on withdrawals and appropriations.
@HassanMcOjwang For catholic, you are normally given a program, if the Priest says the mass will begin at 11 it's upon you to align to that, you have one priest serving several outstations ,he may have had another program for the day
The crazy thing is that NHIF was collecting 82B annually, 7.1M active members
SHA collects 57B despite taxing us more. 4M active members
There is a significant Trust deficit between the two. Simply put, people do not believe SHA to be better than NHIF.
1. KEMSA is paid upfront before SHA verifies your claim for essential medicines, but not cancer, transplant , cancer, Heart, interventional radiology.
2. 90% goes to vendors first. Only 10% left, then 5% after KEMSA.
3. Result: No money left to buy transplant drugs, cancer chemo, dialysis consumables, food, pay for oxygen, salaries, security, environment, water.
That is why they are "not available" in many public hospitals right now.
PART 6: THE SILENCE & MISINFORMATION
1. Leaders: Many County Governors, MPs, CEOs are silent for fear of losing favors.
2. Unions/ associations : Some negotiate allowances instead of fixing the system.
3. Citizens: Most Kenyans don’t understand SHA. Politics and misinformation fill that gap.
4. Result: We are choosing to weaken public hospitals that serve the poor, to favor facilities that can choose services and patients that make more money.
This is not about blame. This is about truth.
PART 7: THE TUGEN ALPS SHOP LESSON
Mzee Chesomet once said: "A shop that pays rent, salaries, electricity, but sells another man's goods and only keeps 10 shillings will die."
That shop is our public hospital. NESP gave us the stock. But 90/10 gave us 10 shillings. The shelves are empty.
PART 8: THE SOLUTION - 11 THINGS WE MUST DO TOGETHER
We are not against SHA. We are not against NESP. We want them to work.
FOR GOVERNMENT:
1. 70/30 Model for Public Hospitals: Pay 70% to hospital, 30% to vendor over 10 years instead of 7 years.
2. Ring-fence 2 Funds: One for hospital operations. One for NESP machine service and chronic drugs.
3. Pay for Capitated Services: Pay hospitals fee-for-service for Xray, Lab, US. Or increase capitation 5 times.
4. Transparency: Publish the list of NESP vendors and rates. Let Hospital Boards sign the service agreements.
5. Pay KEMSA Quarterly, not per patient, so drugs don’t stock out.
FOR LEADERS & UNIONS:
6. Speak Truth: Protect CEOs and CECs who tell the truth. Oversight, not silence.
7. Fight for the System, not just allowances.
FOR ALL KENYANS:
8. Health Education: Learn what SHA covers. Ask questions. Go to Level 2-3 for checkups.
9. Prevention: Check BP, Sugar, Cancer early. It costs 5,000 to prevent. It costs 5 Million to treat kidney failure.
10. Reject Misinformation: Verify before you share.
11. Our Values: Ubuntu. Harambee. Jirani. Watu ni Utajiri. A nation that eats its seed will have no harvest.
PART 9: FINAL WORD TO YOU, MWANANCHI
Mr. President, CS Duale, Governors: NESP and SHA are your legacy projects. We support them.
But Sh7.3 Billion in machines will become scrap metal if we don’t give hospitals money to switch them on.
To you, Mwananchi:
Your SHA card is real. Your right to health is real.
But if we don’t fix how money flows, the hospital near you will have a machine, but no power. A doctor, but no medicine.
"Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa. Lakini vidole kumi vinaweza kujenga taifa."
Let us build this together. With truth. With respect. With solutions.
Asante sana. Mungu abariki Kenya na Wakenya wote.
Dr. Cheptinga K. Philip
Chief Nephrologist, MTRH
I treat kidneys. Today I am asking us to treat the heart of our health system.
SHARE THIS MESSAGE WIDELY.
Let your MP, Governor, MCA, and neighbour read it.
The conversation about health must include all of us.
The people who speak and defend Raila today can make you laugh your heart out. 😂😂😂😂😂 politicians are wild animals. Lest you forget, he was among the people who went to Kerala India to repatriate his body.
EDUCATION sector collapse. Clueless Ruto ends subsidies to TTIs and schools, while running a BLOATED presidential working party of 60+ people, wasting millions holidaying across the country. By the time it winds down in 6 months, billions would be down the swamp. Wanagula.
A young man and a young lady preaching the Word of God at a crusade in Marsabit have stunned netizens, with many saying they didn’t know there were Christians in the area.