Dr. Mercy Mwangangi has been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Social Health Authority (SHA) by the Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale. Before this, she was the Director of Public Health Policy and Partnerships at AMREF Health Africa, one of the continent’s leading public health non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She also served as the Senior Health Systems Strengthening Director at AMREF Health Africa. Here, she spearheaded health financing and health security investments across Africa, securing development assistance funding for primary healthcare and universal coverage expansion. 

The SHA CEO has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations. She is also actively involved in the African Women in Leadership Network. 

During President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure, she served as the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health. She was part of the team that championed adaptation to the new normal that the COVID-19 pandemic had brought about under the leadership of then Health CS Mutahi Kagwe. 

Dr. Mwangangi was a joint secretary in the Universal Health Coverage taskforce, one of the pillars of the Jubilee Government’s Big Four Agenda. She also served as a joint secretary of the Health Benefits Advisory Panel, which was commissioned to assist with the Essential Health Benefit Package for Kenya.

At 29 years old, she was working at the Ministry of Health and was promoted to head the health financing division, which was struggling to craft operational strategies at the time. She was on the team evaluating performance contracts and appraisals for the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Dr. Mwangangi began her career after completing a one-year internship at the Machakos Level 5 Hospital. She was then posted to Meru South, where she worked in the public health department. She first volunteered to work unpaid for 18 months in the health ministry while devolution was still taking shape.

The Pangani Girls alumnus studied Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Nairobi, where she graduated in 2009. She earned her Master’s Degree in Health Economics and Policy from Australia’s University of Adelaide in 2015. The Australian government awarded her the Leadership Award to promote knowledge sharing, leadership development and partnership building with developing countries.