Nairobi – For years, frontline health workers in Kenya faced long delays in receiving payments for their work in vaccination campaigns. Cash-based systems often took more than two weeks, sometimes never reaching workers at all. The process was weighed down by high costs, risks, and lack of transparency, undermining morale and disrupting polio outbreak response.
To address these challenges, the WHO Digital Finance Team, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization in Kenya, introduced a digital payment system to ensure health workers are compensated faster and more reliably. Payments now reach workers’ mobile wallets in as little as 72 hours, a dramatic improvement from the previous 15-day average.
“Before, we used to get paid, but there were delays that made things difficult. With the new digital system, payments come on time, and I haven’t faced any problems,” said Joram Obadiah Andera, community health worker, Busia County.
A national Digital Payments Taskforce was created to coordinate data collection, register workers, verify information, and oversee payments. Despite some early issues with mismatched IDs and phone numbers, the system has been widely welcomed for its accuracy, speed, and transparency.
“The Ministry of Health played a key role in coordinating between counties and partners and ensuring smooth deployment. Kenya is ready for a digital shift in public health delivery,” said Sam Siboyi, digital finance lead, Ministry of Health Kenya.
Strong partnerships with mobile money provider M-Pesa made it possible to reach even the most remote areas, strengthening government ownership and demonstrating a scalable model for future health campaigns.
“The system is faster, more accurate, and limits duplication. Counties have taken ownership, and frontline workers are motivated because they know payments will reach them on time,” said Lucy Murutu, programme assistant, WHO Kenya.
The impact is already clear: over 120 000 frontline workers have been registered in a verified database; payments that once took more than two weeks are now completed in just a few days; and 127 Ministry of Health staff across 13 counties have been trained to manage the process.
With sustained investment, Kenya’s digital payment system is laying the foundation for broader health financing reform, ensuring frontline workers are paid quickly, securely and transparently and better able to deliver life-saving vaccines to every child.