Lodwar- December 5, 2025 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
At least 282 health facility-in-charges and Sub-County Health Management Teams have been sensitized on healthcare financing management including Social Health Authority (SHA) uptake in order to enhance financial autonomy, accountability, and service delivery at the primary health-care level.
The four-day exercise targeting Turkana North, Turkana South, Kibish, Turkana East and Aroo sub-counties, aimed to empower healthcare workers with pre-requisite knowledge on planning, budgeting, financial auditing and resources management in alignment with the Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) and Social Health Authority (SHA) Acts.
The capacity building exercise was facilitated by the County Government of Turkana and supported by Council of Governors’ Directorate of Public Health, AMREF’ Health Africa’s Danida Transcend and Imarisha Jamii projects.
Speaking during the exercise, Deputy Director for Medical Services Bonventure Ameyo, highlighted financial training will complement the clinical and management skills for incharges, who are often not trained officially in school on such but expected to handle finances in line within the PFM Act and other regulations, “They also need to familiarize themselves with the County FIF Act in ensuring financial prudence,”
He also emphasized the importance of health managers to ensure adherence to statutory obligations including registration, licensure of facilities and licensure of clinical staff working under them, including volunteer staff.
“Service integration in line with funding cuts, especially NCDs which are on the rise but not getting due attention; focus on quality of services beyond service scope expansion,” he said.
Health Financing Specialist at the Council of Governors, Wafula George, outlined resource mobilisation as among the strategies to upscale health financing through ensuring a 100% SHA claim rate and intensifying household registration across community units.
He added that adherence to clear financial procedures and better financial management capacity at the health facility level will lead to improved budgeting, planning, and transparency at the health facilities.
“This will foster a culture of performance and ensure that funds are well-managed and accounted for,” he said.
According to the latest SHA report, 27 million people are currently registered on SHA with Turkana among the counties with lowest SHA coverage.
The Assistant Director, Health Records and Information, Peter Etee, reviewed the current facility analysis on SHA, outlining that in a population of 926,463, the county has registered 222,259 people which translates to 24% of SHA uptake.
He added the utilisation of political influence through grassroot leaders and even Members of the County Assembly will scale up SHA registration and enable the community to conduct SHA payment through the ward funds. “This will increase uptake of SHA,” he said.
The Assistant Director, Accounts at the Department of Health and Sanitation, Livingstone Eyanae advised the trainees on the importance of having cashbook maintenance and categorization of annual financial transactions, use of store ledgers crucial in financial health, fiscal standing, and regulatory compliance.
The members were informed that the County Assembly of Turkana has passed the Facility Improvement Financing Bill, 2025, that will enable health facilities to collect, retain, and utilize their own source of revenue for operational and maintenance costs.
Present were senior officers from various county government directorates led by the Department of Health and Sanitation and sub-county health management teams.
Development partner representatives present included David Maenge (Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems, Amref), Evans Otieno (Danida Transcend), Sheila Oto, Charity Karanja, and Kebo Eripon from Council of Governores, and Amadi Junior from NASCOP.
