Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale Denies Ministry Shut Down Murang’a Afya Ke System

On Thursday, October 15, 2026, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale issued a statement rejecting claims that the Ministry of Health had switched off the Afya Ke digital health platform used in Murang’a County.

Duale asserted that the ministry does not own, control, manage the system and does not possess its source code, describing the platform as a private arrangement between the Murang’a County Government and the software developers.

He added that the Digital Health Agency has not refused to certify Afya Ke because neither the developers nor the county have submitted an application for certification.

Duale urged Governor Irungu Kang’ata to refrain from making statements that could misinform the public and cause unnecessary concern among residents and healthcare stakeholders.

He also assured that all Social Health Authority beneficiaries in Murang’a will continue to access health services without interruption through the established SHA systems.

Governor Kang’ata countered that the system had been disconnected, warning that health workers could lose access to patient histories and that services might be temporarily interrupted as facilities transition to another platform.

He noted that Afya Ke has been operating since 2020-2023, enabling electronic recording of patient information, prescriptions, laboratory results, billing and remote consultations, and claimed that county health-revenue collection rose from KSh80 million to KSh800 million after its introduction.

Kang’ata said the shutdown had forced Level 2 and Level 3 facilities to stop offering services, endangering patients and preventing the county from claiming SHA refunds.

The governor posted a WHOIS screenshot showing the afyake.go.ke domain registered under the Kenya Network Information Centre with nameservers ns1.treasury.go.ke, ns2.treasury.go.ke and ns3.treasury.go.ke, arguing that the .go.ke domain is reserved for government entities.

He also claimed that other government institutions, including the Department of Defence and hospitals in Tharaka Nithi and Kitengela, use the platform.

The dispute centres on the operation of Afya Ke across roughly 165 Murang’a health facilities, raising concerns about the protection of patient records built since 2023.

The Ministry reiterated its commitment to supporting Murang’a and other counties in advancing digital health programmes and ensuring continuity of healthcare services nationwide.