President William Ruto has directed the integration of more than 107,000 Community Health Promoters (CHPs) into the Social Health Authority (SHA) system as part of efforts to strengthen Kenya’s community healthcare programme.
Ruto made the announcement during a health forum in Nairobi, where he also promised to review the monthly stipend paid to the community health workers by December 2026.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the onboarding process into the Digital Health Agency system would begin on August 20 and end on August 24.
The exercise is expected to ensure all CHPs are formally captured before the planned review of their allowances.
Under the new funding arrangement, the national government will finance 50% of the CHPs’ costs, while county governments will be responsible for the remaining half. The workers have previously operated outside a formal national payroll structure.
Duale said the implementation would take about three months due to procurement procedures and the need for approvals from Parliament and the National Treasury.
Beyond the proposed stipend review, Ruto announced that all 107,800 CHPs would receive new smartphones and modern medical kits within 90 days.
“In the next 90 days, we will equip all the 107,800 Community Health Promoters with new smartphones and modern health kits,” Ruto said.
The smartphones are expected to support CHPs in collecting and transmitting health information while working in communities, aligning their activities with the government’s broader digital health agenda.
Ruto also directed that the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) cover be extended to family members of CHP beneficiaries.
The measures are expected to provide greater financial and institutional support to community health workers who play a key role in delivering basic healthcare services at the grassroots.
The government’s plan to formalise the workforce comes amid broader efforts to integrate community-level healthcare into Kenya’s national health insurance and digital health systems.
The stipend review, equipment upgrades and SHA integration could significantly change the working conditions of thousands of CHPs across the country.