Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has ordered sweeping security reforms across Kenya’s national referral hospitals after a deadly breach at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) exposed systemic vulnerabilities and eroded public confidence.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, July 21, 2025, during a high‑level meeting with CEOs at Afya House, Duale issued a seven‑day deadline for each hospital to submit a detailed security and operational audit. The reports must identify current gaps, steps already taken, urgent corrective actions, and clear accountability lines within leadership teams.
Duale told hospital chiefs that safety, discipline, and operational integrity are “non‑delegable” responsibilities. He directed immediate internal reviews of physical security controls, visitor management, emergency preparedness, patient protection protocols, and staff conduct. Strengthened enforcement of professional discipline and institutional culture was singled out as essential to rebuilding trust.
Hospitals have further been instructed to develop or update crisis communication plans that enable timely, transparent, and empathetic public engagement when incidents occur. Duale also announced closer coordination between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior to integrate hospital security operations with local law‑enforcement response, while insisting that facility leadership must actively drive the changes.
The reforms follow the July 17 killing of a 52‑year‑old male patient inside a KNH ward an incident that investigators say involved an assailant who entered the ward with a sharp object. The suspect has since been arrested. The death renewed scrutiny of referral‑level security because it came months after an earlier fatal attack reported at the same hospital, intensifying public outrage over lax safeguards for vulnerable patients.
Beyond immediate audits, the Ministry is expected to track implementation metrics, standardize minimum security requirements across facilities, and explore upgrades such as functional CCTV coverage, electronic access control, staff ID validation, and incident reporting dashboards linked to law‑enforcement systems. Stakeholders are urging investments in mental‑health risk screening and secure holding areas for high‑risk patients. (Implementation elements extrapolated from audit directives and security gaps highlighted in recent commentary.)
Editorial voices and professional groups warn that hospitals have become “soft targets” and call for round‑the‑clock surveillance, controlled entry points, and structured collaboration with police measures aligned with Duale’s directive. The moment, he said, demands visible leadership: “Let us make our hospitals not just centres of excellence, but symbols of safety, service, and public trust.”
Referral hospital CEOs now face a tight clock to prove that corrective action is underway; Kenyans will be watching whether audits translate into real improvements at the bedside and whether renewed accountability can stem preventable tragedy in the nation’s highest‑level health facilities.
