NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 — Catholic bishops have raised alarm over crippling delays in the payment of arrears owed to mission hospitals by the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and its successor, the Social Health Authority (SHA), warning that the prolonged financial strain now threatens the survival of faith-based health facilities across the country.
Through the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), the Church said billions of shillings in unpaid claims remain outstanding despite earlier government assurances that all verified NHIF dues would be cleared during the transition to the new social health system.
“The issue of the payment of dues to our hospitals both under SHA and NHIF, to say the least, is crippling our health institutions,” the bishops said in a statement on Thursday.
The bishops, led by KCCB Chairman Archbishop Maurice Muhatia (Kisumu), Vice Chairman Archbishop Anthony Muheria (Nyeri), Archbishop Philip Anyolo (Nairobi), and Archbishop Martin Kivuva (Mombasa), said the unpaid arrears have left Catholic-run hospitals in dire financial distress, forcing many to operate under heavy debt while struggling to pay suppliers and medical staff.
“Suppliers are waiting for their money. We need medical supplies; we need to pay staff. Our hospitals are running on deep debts because of these huge arrears,” they said.
“We ask the government to move with speed and not close its eyes to this reality.”
The Church further warned that new arrears are already piling up under the Social Health Authority (SHA), cautioning that the system risks replicating the same challenges that crippled NHIF operations.
“We are beginning to accumulate arrears again under the SHA system. We hope this doesn’t go the route of NHIF,” the bishops warned.
Sh10bn NHIF debt
Their protest comes weeks after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale revealed that NHIF left behind a Sh10 billion debt, which continues to strain operations in hospitals—particularly faith-based, private, and county facilities.
Appearing before the National Assembly Health Committee in October, Duale said the Cabinet had resolved to prioritize payment of smaller verified claims below Sh10 million per facility, amounting to Sh5.3 billion, once the supplementary budget is approved.
“The Cabinet has decided that we start by clearing claims below Sh10 million, which represent the largest portion of the debt — subject to verification,” Duale told MPs.
“Once the Supplementary Budget is passed and the Sh5.3 billion is released, it will be easy to pay these claims. Verification has already begun in collaboration with SHA.”
Duale urged lawmakers to support the ministry’s efforts to settle the pending bills, saying the backlog has pushed many hospitals to the brink of closure.
“The biggest challenge health facilities are facing today is not SHIF, but the old NHIF debt,” he said. “Several facilities — private, public, and faith-based — are on the verge of closure due to huge pending bills inherited from NHIF.”
He cited St. Mary’s Mumias Mission Hospital in Kakamega, which is still owed close to Sh40 million in NHIF arrears, despite receiving recent payments from SHA.
The bishops have now called for immediate government intervention, insisting that verification alone is not enough and that actual disbursements must be fast-tracked to rescue struggling mission hospitals serving millions of Kenyans, especially in rural and underserved areas.
“This is a very serious matter. Our hospitals are in dire need. The government must act now,” they emphasized.