Nairobi — Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced that the government will soon publish the full details of the Sh208 billion health partnership recently signed between President William Ruto's administration and the United States.
CS Duale said the documents would be tabled in Parliament, describing them as public records intended to ensure transparency, adding that the National Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Health legal teams have already examined their contents.
"It's a public document, and it takes care of the interests of our people. We made sure the National Treasury, the Attorney General, and the legal team at the Ministry of Health have reviewed it," he said.
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Duale also outlined a major shift in how the partnership will be rolled out moving from an NGO-led delivery to a direct Government-to-Government (G2G) model.
He said the main agreement and data-sharing framework have already been concluded, with only the implementation matrix and co-financing components still awaiting signature.
According to Duale, the G2G model is intended to streamline operations by cutting out intermediary NGOs and implementing agencies. He noted that about 13,000 healthcare workers currently under HR programs may be affected by the transition.
"So this time, the new paradigm shift and the new architecture is that we must remove the middle team, that is, the implementing agencies and the NGOs. We have signed a G2G agreement, which, for the benefit of the people of Kenya, I have. I will shortly make it available, and I'll give it to Parliament," he noted.
Concerns were raised about whether the new arrangement could expose private medical data.
Duale stressed that only aggregated, high-level information will be shared, excluding personal identifiers such as national ID numbers, addresses or individual medical records.
The shared data, he said, will focus on totals, trends, performance indicators and system-level outcomes.
The agreement also sets up a process-metrics audit that would allow the U.S. to verify results in up to 5% of selected health facilities, laboratories, clinics or programs, based on random sampling or mutual agreement.
Implementation Strategy
President William Ruto witnessed the signing of the Kenya-US Health Cooperation Framework, signed by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington D.C.
President Ruto said the agreement will strengthen Kenya's efforts to realize universal health coverage, modernize hospital equipment, deliver the Social Health Authority's services, and boost disease surveillance and emergency preparedness.
"The framework we sign today adds momentum to my administration's universal health coverage that is focused on supply of modern equipment to our hospitals, efficient and timely delivery of health commodities to our facilities, enhancement of our health workforce, and health insurance for all, and leaving no Kenyan behind," he said.
President Ruto appreciated the US Government for choosing Kenya as the first country to sign the Health Cooperation Framework.
He said this decision reinforces the United States' confidence in Kenya's healthcare systems, which are built to be self-sustaining.
"This gesture of goodwill by President Donald Trump, on behalf of the American taxpayers, reinforces our ongoing mobilisation of domestic resources in the health sector. I assure you that every shilling and dollar will be spent efficiently, effectively and accountably," he said.
He noted that the partnership builds on Kenya's long standing health relationship with the United States, backed by more than $7 billion (KSh910 billion) over 25 years, focused on building resilience, restoring hope, and supporting impactful institutions.
"Together, we have built resilience, restored hope, and supported impactful institutions," he said.
Secretary Rubio said the US chose Kenya because of its stable and strong institutions in both government and the health sector.
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He noted that the $1.6 billion will not only support medicine, but also domestic health infrastructure, ensuring a health system that is self-sustaining.
Under the old model, he explained, much of the money went to the operating costs of NGOs, leaving only a small share for the host country, patients, and other intended programmes.
"We are not going to spend millions of dollars funding the NGO industrial complex while close and important partners like Kenya have very little influence on how healthcare money is spent. Bottom line - if you want to help a country, work with that country, not with a third party that imposes things on that country," Rubio pointed out.
Secretary Rubio praised Kenya's leading role in restoring peace and stability in Haiti, noting that without Kenya's participation the transition to a gang suppression force would have been impossible.
He said Kenya cannot do it alone and encouraged other countries to contribute money and personnel to support the peace mission.
