Dear Kenyan Taxpayer, Health Is Our Right

Dear Kenyan Taxpayer,

Let us begin with a term that may sound technical but affects us every day. Health sovereignty.

Health sovereignty means that we, as a country, have the power, responsibility, and capacity to take care of our own people’s health in a way that is sustainable and accountable. It means our hospitals function because we have financed and managed them properly. It means essential medicines are available because our systems are efficient. It means our health priorities are shaped by our realities, not only by external agendas.

At its heart, health sovereignty is about ownership.

And ownership includes all of us.

Every day, we contribute to this country. Through PAYE. Through VAT. Through levies on fuel and basic goods. Through insurance contributions and small deductions that seem insignificant on their own but collectively sustain the state. Whether formally employed or running a small biashara, we finance the health system.

So when we say health is a right, it is not a slogan. It is grounded in contribution.

Kenya has made meaningful progress in health over the years. Partnerships have strengthened programmes in HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health. Many lives have been saved. But sovereignty requires us to ask a more difficult question. Are we building systems that can stand firmly on their own when funding priorities shift?

Sovereignty is not about rejecting support. It is about ensuring sustainability. It is about strengthening primary health care so that prevention reduces pressure on referral hospitals. It is about transparent procurement systems. It is about timely payment of health workers. It is about data guiding decisions. It is about counties allocating resources in line with actual community needs.

When medicines are out of stock, when facilities are understaffed, when citizens are confused about health reforms, these are not abstract policy gaps. They are communication gaps, governance gaps, and accountability gaps.

Silence weakens systems. Clarity strengthens them.

As citizens, we often disengage because health systems feel complex. Yet disengagement creates space for inefficiency. Asking questions about budgets, supply chains, and service delivery is not confrontational. It is responsible.

There is a social contract embedded in taxation. We contribute. The state delivers. When delivery falters consistently, trust erodes. And without trust, even the most well designed reform will struggle.

Health sovereignty requires political will, technical competence, and active citizen participation. It requires us to understand that health is not a seasonal debate or a campaign promise. It is a continuous commitment.

Dear Kenyan Taxpayer, we are not asking for excess. We are asking for functioning facilities, accessible services, preventive care, and dignified treatment.

That is not entitlement.

That is constitutional.

Health is our right. And sovereignty begins when we treat it as such.