| 2024 IN REVIEW | The SHA transition headache

The roll out of the highly touted social health authority on 1st October was a culmination of a year of push and pull, as the ministry of health made the transition, and most notably, it was also the realisation of a campaign pledge by President William Ruto, who had championed universal health coverage in his manifesto. But as Mary Muoki reports, the roll out which has hit employed Kenyans hard courtesy of a 2.75% deduction on gross salaries, has been nothing short of chaotic, from running into legal headwinds to locking out the very patients it was designed to serve. Stakeholders in the health sector have passed a unanimous vote: suspend the implementation until all the ts have been crossed and every i is dotted.