
At the 2025 Devolution Conference, Kenyan Governors, Senators and other leaders made a bold commitment to recalibrate the health system away from an aid dependent one and one that is self-sufficient, powered by institutionalised Public-Private Collaboration (PPC), innovation and domestic resource mobilization.
Today, that commitment took the next concrete step.
The Council of Governors, with Open Phences supported, co-hosted the inaugural Technical Working Group (TWG) on Institutionalising PPCs in Healthcare, translating the landmark Homabay Statement into action.
Here is what the room said:
1️⃣ The trust deficit is real - low public trust is a major barrier to PPCs in healthcare. The remedy is not quick-fix solutions like cleverer messaging. The answer lies in bringing in the public early, explaining where, how and why the private sector is being engaged, and adjusting proposed PPC models to accommodate desires of the diverse stakeholders and the public. Trust is earned, not merely announced.
2️⃣ Counties must lead on PPC talk. When PPC proposals originating from private investors outnumber those from counties, the risk of misalignment grows. Counties that articulate investment priorities and co-finaceable opportunities send out clearer signals that attract more aligned investors.
3️⃣ The public-private dichotomy is (at times) exaggerated. What we call "public transport" is almost privately operated. The question shouldn't be who owns the infrastructure. Communities care more about access, equity and affordable access to quality healthcare.
4️⃣ Focus should be 'Institutionalisation', not just sporadic implementation of one-off PPCs.
The PPC-TWG was tasked with standardizing participation forums, coordinating effort to support policy and legislation review, strengthening county capacity to engage in PPCs, and spearheading the joint learning mechanism to enable counties to learn from each other's successes and failures, and where possible, develop joint investment proposals with larger ticket sizes that attract better investment and provide stronger platforms for scaling and sustainability.
The Homabay Statement was the spark. Today was the first step in building the engine. We are grateful to Amref Health Africa, Kenya Healthcare Federation, @PPP Directorate at Treasury, Ministry of Health, Kenya, Christian Health Association of Kenya @CHAK_KENYA, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops @kccbSocialComms, Access Afya, Nairobi and Kisumu County leadership (representing counties), Dr Ganda, for driving this work forward alongside Kenya's county governments.




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