President William Ruto has dismissed former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s claims that the government rushed the rollout of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), otherwise referred to as the SHA (Social Health Authority).
Speaking in Taita Taveta County on Monday, December 2, Ruto clarified that the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program is not new to Kenya. He pointed out that the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) had failed to provide sufficient healthcare coverage for many years, leaving many Kenyans without proper medical care.
Ruto emphasized the importance of a program that guarantees all Kenyans access to affordable healthcare.
“I heard some people saying I have rushed Universal Health Coverage,” Ruto said. “This UHC existed during Kibaki’s government and my friend Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.”
He added, “Now, something that has been in government for nearly twenty years—has it been delayed or not? It has been delayed, hasn’t it? So, let’s move forward and ensure citizens can access healthcare.”
In a TV interview on Sunday, Gachagua claimed the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) rollout is riddled with corruption. He questioned why the government was spending over Ksh100 billion on a new system rather than upgrading the existing NHIF system.
“Looking at the mathematics surrounding that program, I found that it would have cost us between Ksh700 million and Ksh800 million to upgrade the system that was running NHIF and make it compliant,” Gachagua said.
He added, “My very honest view is that that is the crux of the matter; it is what the rush is about. The focus is the Ksh.104 billion.”
