The collapse of Kenya’s healthcare system is no accident. It has been carefully orchestrated by individuals who have turned public health into a profit-making machine at the expense of millions of struggling Kenyans.
At the center of this crisis is one man Jayesh Saini. For over a decade, he has manipulated the system, using his vast connections to ensure that the health sector remains dysfunctional while his businesses thrive. His control over Medical Administrator Kenya Limited (MAKL) is a prime example of how deep his influence runs, making billions from a failing system while hospitals shut down and patients are left to suffer.
MAKL was meant to provide healthcare for teachers and police officers, but under Saini’s control, it has become nothing more than a scheme to siphon money from the government while failing to pay hospitals.
For over 11 months, hospitals that have treated patients under the MAKL scheme have not been paid. Instead, MAKL has forced hospitals to accept unexplained discounts, denying them rightful payments for services already provided.
Saini’s goal is clear cripple public and private hospitals while directing funds to his own network of clinics and facilities. This is not just corruption, it is the deliberate sabotage of Kenya’s healthcare system.
The situation has now reached a breaking point. The Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) has announced the indefinite suspension of services under the Social Health Authority (SHA) due to Kshs 30 billion in unpaid arrears and an unrealistic outpatient reimbursement model. Hospitals simply cannot afford to continue operating under a system designed to make them fail.
The reimbursement model, which proposes to pay hospitals less than Kshs 75 per patient per month, is nothing more than a death sentence for healthcare facilities. Meanwhile, Saini’s MAKL continues to collect government funds while hospitals are left in financial ruin.
The evidence of this collapse is everywhere. Hospitals have defaulted on loans, pharmaceutical suppliers have blacklisted them due to unpaid bills, and thousands of healthcare workers have lost their jobs.
At the same time, hospitals are being forced to declare NHIF claims as income for tax purposes, even when those claims remain unpaid, leading to unnecessary tax liabilities. This financial burden has left hospitals on the verge of shutting down while Jayesh Saini and his associates continue to profit from the suffering of Kenyans.
SHA has completely failed. 89% of hospitals report that the SHA claims portal is non-functional, making reimbursements impossible. 54% of hospitals have not received any payments since December 2024, and those that have received payments report that there is no transparency on what the money was for.
83% of hospitals report serious difficulties in verifying patient eligibility due to system glitches, meaning that patients in urgent need are being denied care. Meanwhile, 74% of hospitals say they cannot even reach SHA for claim-related queries, with emails and calls going unanswered.
This is not just incompetence it is a deliberate failure to ensure that public hospitals remain underfunded, while private entities like MAKL continue to exploit the system for profit.
Jayesh Saini has been at the heart of every major health scandal in Kenya for years. His influence in insurance schemes, hospital networks, and medical tenders has allowed him to manipulate policies in his favor. His involvement in MAKL is a clear indication that he is not just benefiting from the healthcare crisis he is creating it.
His business empire thrives on the suffering of patients who cannot afford treatment, hospitals that cannot pay their staff, and a government that refuses to hold him accountable.
The government must act now. The Kshs 30 billion NHIF arrears must be paid immediately, the SHA reimbursement model must be revised to reflect actual operational costs, and MAKL must be held accountable for the billions it has collected while failing to pay hospitals.
But more importantly, Jayesh Saini must be stopped. His grip on Kenya’s health sector has gone on for far too long, and it is time for him to answer for the destruction he has caused. He should not just be exposed, he should be prosecuted for turning healthcare into a business of suffering and death.
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