Govt denies switching off Murang’a Afya.ke system as Kang’ata questions Duale’s explanation

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has denied claims that the national government switched off Murang’a County’s Afya.ke digital health system.

This comes after Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang’ata announced disruptions reported at public hospitals and the transition to the national health management platform.

In a statement issued on Thursday, October 15, 2026, the Ministry of Health said it neither owns nor controls Afya.ke, describing it as a private arrangement between the county government and the system’s developers.

The Ministry also denied that the Digital Health Agency (DHA) had refused to certify the platform, saying neither the developers nor Murang’a County had applied for certification.

“The Ministry of Health has not switched off the Afya Ke system. The Ministry neither owns, controls, nor manages the system, nor does it have the source code, contrary to the allegations,” the statement said.

The response followed Kang’ata’s public protest on Wednesday, October 14, after the county reported that the platform had stopped working, disrupting operations at public health facilities and forcing the county to prepare to migrate to the national system.

The governor challenged the Ministry’s explanation in a post on X, questioning how the platform could be described as a private arrangement while using a government domain.

Kang'ata went further to prove that "all go.ke domains are registered under Treasury nameservers" and that "Afya.ke is listed by Digital Health Authority."

His response came as the national and county governments offered conflicting accounts of what caused the system’s reported shutdown.

On Wednesday, Kang’ata accused the national government of switching off Afya.ke despite an earlier assurance from Duale that the platform would be connected to the Social Health Authority (SHA) system rather than discontinued.

The governor said the shutdown had forced the county to begin moving health facilities to the national government’s digital health platform.

He warned that the transition could disrupt access to patients’ medical histories and other records accumulated through the county system.

Afya.ke has been used to manage electronic patient records, prescriptions, laboratory results and billing, while also supporting telemedicine services.

Reports on the disruption indicated that some lower-level facilities had been affected, with the county warning of delays as staff adjusted to the replacement system.

Kang’ata also questioned the cost implications of the transition, saying Afya.ke had been provided to the county free of charge while the replacement system would introduce additional costs.

The governor said the county had no option but to migrate and that services would be scaled down temporarily as health workers adjusted to the new platform.

He indicated that the county hoped to restore normal operations by Monday, October 19, subject to the transition proceeding as planned.

In its statement, the Ministry of Health urged Kang’ata to refrain from making what it termed misleading statements that could cause unnecessary concern among residents and healthcare stakeholders.

The Ministry maintained that the DHA had not rejected an application to certify Afya.ke because neither the county nor the platform’s developers had submitted one.

It also sought to reassure residents that the dispute would not interrupt access to healthcare through the national insurance system.

“We wish to assure the public that all Social Health Authority (SHA) beneficiaries in Murang’a will continue to access healthcare services without interruption via the established SHA systems,” Duale said in the statement.

The Ministry added that it remained committed to supporting Murang’a County’s digital health agenda, alongside those of other county governments.

The disagreement comes amid the nationwide transition from the SHA Provider Portal to the Health Management Information System (HMIS), with the Ministry previously setting October 30, 2026, as the deadline for completing the transition.