Police officers and teachers in Kenya are set to lose access to private healthcare services, a crisis that has sparked outrage and cast a spotlight on businessman Jayesh Saini, a close ally of President William Ruto.
Saini, who controls key insurance firms that cover these civil servants, is now facing growing scrutiny over his role in a healthcare system marred by financial mismanagement and unethical practices.
On Thursday, February 20, the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) announced that hospitals under its network would stop treating patients covered by the Social Health Authority (SHA) from Monday, February 24.
This decision extends to teachers and police officers who rely on government-backed insurance schemes such as those run by Medical Administrator Kenya Limited (MAKL), Minet, and Bliss Healthcare—entities linked to Jayesh Saini.
RUPHA cited unpaid debts, forced discounts, and favoritism toward Saini-controlled clinics as reasons for their drastic action. Hospitals claim they have gone unpaid for over 11 months, leaving them in financial distress.
Businessman Jayesh Saini. Source: Facebook
Some have been auctioned, medical specialists have quit, and essential services have been crippled. The crisis exposes how Saini’s business empire, which includes Bliss Healthcare and MAKL, has contributed to a healthcare meltdown for Kenya’s civil servants.
Jayesh Saini is no stranger to controversy. As the owner of Bliss Healthcare, he was at the center of the scandal surrounding the refusal to treat Rex Maasai, a case that highlighted systemic flaws in Kenya’s private health sector.
His father owns Nairobi West Hospital, the facility where injured police officers are frequently taken—a relationship that raises further questions about his deep entrenchment in Kenya’s healthcare and insurance sectors.
Businessman Jayesh Saini during a past event. Photo: NTV Kenya Source: Facebook
Beyond healthcare, Saini’s influence extends to high-level politics. He is a known confidant of President Ruto and was seen at Bomas moments before Wafula Chebukati declared Ruto the winner of the 2022 presidential election.
Sources claim Saini played a pivotal role in introducing Ruto to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose controversial involvement in Kenyan infrastructure projects has been widely debated.
The loss of medical coverage for police officers and teachers is just the latest scandal tied to Saini’s enterprises.
The affected civil servants, like other Kenyan citizens, will be forced to either pay for expensive private medical care out of pocket or rely on an already overstretched public health system.
RUPHA warns that unless the government clears the Ksh30 billion debt owed to hospitals and revises the exploitative insurance model, the crisis will only deepen.
