By HASSAN ADOW
I recently spent four days in the Ethiopian city of Hawassa, and the experience left me both inspired and deeply reflective.
Inspired by the incredible strides a neighboring country has made in delivering accessible and quality healthcare, and reflective about how far Kenya seems to have drifted from that ideal.
is a remarkable city. Its roads are immaculately clean and well-maintained, shaded by rows of trees that give the town a sense of calm and order. The town’s layout and spatial planning are clearly above board thoughtfully designed to accommodate both human and environmental needs.
One gets the sense that the place is growing with purpose. But beyond its physical beauty, what truly captivated me was the spirit of the people. Hawassa’s residents are warm, culturally diverse, and extraordinarily patriotic.
They love their country, and they love their people. That sense of national pride isn’t just in flags or slogans; it is in the way they treat one another, and in how they uphold the systems that serve their community. Nowhere is this more evident than in their healthcare system.
Unlike Kenya’s increasingly commercialized and profit-driven health sector, Hawassa has built a people-centered approach to healthcare. The cost of services is modest even for visitors ,and the quality is admirable
The doctors here are not hurried. They listen carefully, ask meaningful questions, and treat patients with dignity and care. What’s more telling is their mindset: many see medicine not as a business, but as a calling.
They embody the kind of professionalism and compassion that we so desperately need in our own system.
Diagnostic services are reliable. Medications are authentic. And healthcare facilities are well-equipped, functional, and most importantly affordable.
Hawassa has quietly become a medical haven for patients from across the East African region, including many from Kenya. For those priced out of our increasingly expensive system, the city offers a safe, reliable, and respectful alternative
And that leads to a pressing question: Why is healthcare in Kenya so expensive, yet so patchy and inconsistent in quality? Despite years of reforms, budget allocations, and strategic plans, Kenya’s health sector remains plagued by inefficiency, profiteering, and sometimes outright neglect.
Perhaps it’s time we stopped talking to ourselves and started looking around us. There is wisdom in benchmarking. What policies, values, and systems have enabled cities like Hawassa to thrive in sectors where we continue to struggle?
We need a serious, independent study,not just about our failures, but about what others are doing right. A study that is not politically choreographed, but rooted in evidence, empathy, and the will to change.
We also need to ask deeper societal questions. Have we allowed profit to overshadow purpose in our public services? Have we lost the sense of national duty that should drive those who care for others? Because in Hawassa, it’s clear: doctors see healing as a duty, not just a transaction. Kenya must reflect.
We owe it to the millions of citizens who are increasingly forced to seek help elsewhere; not because of luxury, but because of survival. We owe it to ourselves to ask: if this is possible in Hawassa, why not here?
Hawasa gave me hope. And perhaps, more than anything, it reminded me that systems rooted in patriotism, purpose, and people can indeed work to the satisfaction of everybody…
The Writer is Economist and public policy analyst based in Wajir County.
