Identify and scale up manufacturing essential medical supplies

The Kenya Kwanza government promised to prioritize the purchase of medical supplies from local manufacturers to support its growth.

On May 8th, 2024, the government announced the first end-to-end rapid diagnostic self-test kits, ending over-reliance on imports after Revital Healthcare, a medical devices manufacturer, opened a production plant in Kilifi.
As of March 2025, locally produced essential medicines accounted for approximately 30% of the requirements under KEML, meaning there is a shortfall of roughly 20 percentage points to meet the 2026 target.
The government reaffirmed in September 2025 its target to have at least 50% of the medicines on the Kenya Essential Medicines List (KEML) produced locally by 2026. Further, The Kenya Local Manufacturing Strategy 2025-2030 is being rolled out to scale up production of health products and technologies. Increased manufacturing costs since June 2025 have been a challenge in the sector.
July 2026: Kenya has launched the Kenya Health Products and Technologies Local Manufacturing Strategy 2026–2030, a five-year roadmap to expand local production of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices, and to strengthen the regulatory systems that keep them safe, effective and of assured quality.

ABOUT MZALENDO

Mzalendo is a Kenyan non-partisan Parliamentary monitoring organization whose mission is to “promote the realization of open, inclusive, and accountable Parliaments across Kenya and Africa”.

BUILT AND MAINTAINED
WITH SUPPORT FROM

Website built by Wit Design

Disclaimer
This Promise Tracker is an independent civic-accountability tool designed to monitor and document the progress of public commitments made by the Government of Kenya. Information presented on this platform is compiled from publicly available sources including government publications, parliamentary records, policy documents, and credible media reports. The classifications used in this tracker represent an evidence-based assessment by the platform’s researchers and should be understood as analytical judgments rather than official government determinations. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and regular updates, the status of promises may evolve as new information becomes available. This website is not affiliated with or operated by the Government of Kenya.

Last updated: August 30, 2026 3:32 am