Murang’a county has launched Kenya’s largest public digital healthcare initiative, connecting 170 health facilities, delivered by Paratus Kenya under the Paratus Essential Access offering with Starlink satellite connectivity.
The roll-out improves access to healthcare for about 1.2 million residents in Murang’a county, most of whom live in rural communities. The project is regarded as one of the largest connected telemedicine programmes in Kenya and in Africa.
The initiative combines telemedicine with digital health reporting, and allows patients to access specialist consultations at their nearest clinic while enabling community health promoters to submit healthcare data digitally from the field. This improves patient care, disease monitoring and the speed of service delivery across the county. Patients benefit from faster diagnosis, reduced travel time, improved referrals and access to specialist expertise previously unavailable in many rural areas. Digital records can also be accessed remotely, while lab samples are transported to larger facilities and results uploaded back into the system for immediate review.
The project forms part of Murang’a county’s healthcare transformation programme under the leadership of the governor, Dr Irungu Kang’ata, and supports Kenya’s broader universal health coverage and digital healthcare goals.
Governor Kang’ata said: “This programme is improving access to healthcare by connecting facilities, empowering healthcare workers and ensuring communities can receive quality medical support closer to home. It is a major step forward in strengthening healthcare delivery across Murang’a.”
The telemedicine system currently supports hundreds of consultations daily through a central hub, allowing doctors to connect remotely with patients in surrounding clinics and dispensaries. The roll-out also includes digital health hubs that extend access to surrounding communities.
Transforming access to healthcare
There are currently 170 public health facilities operational on the Paratus Essential Access programme in Murang’a with a further 302 being added before the end of the year. With 15 doctors based at the central telemedicine hub, the Murang’a digital health access service can handle between 450 to 600 patients per day.
Paratus Kenya managed the Paratus Essential Access and Starlink installation across the county after the initial pilot of 35 health facilities was deemed successful at the end of 2025. Paratus Essential Access also provides reliable and fast connectivity to institutions including hospitals, schools, NGOs, police stations, fire stations and digital hubs.
MD of Paratus Kenya Joseph Kibwott said: “Paratus Essential Access is designed to support the institutions that communities depend on every day. This project demonstrates how connectivity can help transform healthcare access and improve service delivery in underserved areas. It is literally a lifeline for rural communities.”
The official launch of the groundbreaking Murang’a Digital Healthcare Access programme took place on 28 May 2026 at the county’s telemedicine hub, where healthcare stakeholders and national media experienced live demonstrations of the system. Also attending the event were leading healthcare officials from other African countries, including Nigeria and Ethiopia, where digital telemedicine applications are also needed.
About Murang’a county government
The county government of Murang’a is committed to improving the welfare of its residents through sustained investment in healthcare, infrastructure, innovation and efficient public service delivery.
About Paratus Kenya
In November 2024, pan-African telecommunications and network services provider Paratus Group launched Paratus Kenya through a joint venture with Nairobi based IT and ISP company, MoveOn Telecoms. The new company has been created to provide, supply and deliver Starlink services initially in Kenya. In 2023, Paratus was announced as an authorised reseller across Africa of Starlink global LEO (low–Earth orbit) satellite services. MoveOn Telecoms Limited (MTL) has been licensed since 2015 by the Communication Authority of Kenya and Register of Companies to offer ICT solutions in Kenya. MTL offers experience and expertise across the entire spectrum of telecoms solutions, backed by a highly qualified team providing customer and technical support.