Unlicensed clinics face closure as governors sound alarm on quacks

Tharaka Nithi Governor and COG health committee chairperson Muthoni Njuki during a past event/COURTESY

The Council of Governors (CoG) has called for a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed and poorly regulated health facilities.

The council, through the Health committee Chairperson and Tharaka Nithi Governor, Muthomi Njuki, argued that these facilities are responsible for a significant number of negligence-related deaths.

Njuki said counties, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will intensify efforts to identify and shut down clinics run by unqualified personnel or those operating under borrowed or leased licences.

“We have received numerous reports of facilities offering substandard services while posing as legitimate hospitals," Njuki said.

Many of these facilities, he alleged, are manned by quacks or medics who rent out their licences for profit, and this must stop.

Pharmacies are also under scrutiny, with Njuki revealing that many lack proper documentation and are endangering patients’ lives. 

“These chemists are mushrooming everywhere. But upon inspection, many are not licensed, yet they continue to handle drugs and patients,” he noted.

The governor made the remarks in Mpukoni, Tharaka Nithi County, during the groundbreaking of a 40-bed maternal unit at Mpukoni Health Centre. 

He urged Kenyans to be vigilant about where they seek healthcare.

Njuki also urged residents to continue registering for the Social Health Authority (SHA) system, saying it guarantees better service delivery and accountability.

He highlighted its affordability, including the recently launched Lipa Pole Pole payment model, compared to out-of-pocket expenses during medical emergencies.

“Paying for a full year under SHA is far more cost-effective than being hit with a huge hospital bill when uninsured,” Njuki said.

The initiative aims to make health insurance more accessible for informal sector workers who often struggle to pay lump-sum premiums.

At the same time, he announced that Tharaka Nithi County plans to equip all its 115 health facilities with cancer early-detection machines within the next year, citing the high cancer burden.