The residents of Tharaka Nithi County will now access free healthcare services in all primary care networks – that is dispensaries and healthcare centres, as long as they are registered on the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and Social Health Authority (SHA).
Announcing the directive on Thursday, 20 February, 2025, Governor Muthomi Njuki, who doubles up as the Council of Governors Health Committee chairperson, said that all residents had the right to access quality and affordable health care without paying a dime at the county’s facilities as an incentive to those that boarded the Social Health Authority train.
However, those referred for admission will have to be paid up members.
According to Njuki, the County’s residents who will also have access to a level 3 facility will not pay for outpatient services but will pay for inpatient services.
This as the county works towards ramping up registered residents to SHIF from the current 27%.
I am a Nairobi-based Kenyan journalist, currently the Managing Editor of Newsflash Kenya, an online digital news platform covering politics, current affairs, agriculture, environment, and climate change with an in-depth approach. Previously, I worked with The Africa Report as Kenya’s Political Correspondent, where I provided in-depth political analysis and coverage of governance and socio-economic issues shaping the country.
Before that, I was a journalist with Nation Media Group (NMG), East Africa’s largest media house, where my articles were published in The Daily Nation, The East African, and Taifa Leo—Kenya’s only Kiswahili newspaper. At Taifa Leo, I refined my bilingual skills, writing and translating news stories to ensure a broader reach.
Over the years, I have developed a keen eye for investigative and long-form journalism, blending data-driven reporting with human-interest storytelling. I am passionate about impactful journalism that holds power to account, challenges narratives, and amplifies underreported stories across Kenya and beyond