Kenya has committed to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and prioritized purchasing reforms. Existing evidence indicates that purchasing can be leveraged to achieve health system objectives when done strategically. However, no single study has collated evidence on the progress and bottlenecks on strategic health purchasing (SHP) in Kenya to inform requisite SHP reforms in moving towards UHC. It is against this background that this research paper assessed the progress and gaps in SHP in Kenya.