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Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on Sunday, December 1, 2024, slammed naysayers and other leaders pushing the Kenya Kwanza administration to cancel the Social Health Authority (SHA) and reinstate the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).

Kindiki, who attended a church service in Mwingi, Kitui County, admitted that President William Ruto’s administration had so far faced immense pressure to drop the programme.

He noted that those opposed to the new health programme are basing their arguments on the challenges bedevilling its rollout.

While admitting that the programme is still facing some hiccups, Kindiki maintained that the government will not succumb to the pressure and abandon SHA.

Defending his hard stance, Kindiki explained that plans to introduce a programme similar to SHA were rejected during former President Mwai Kibaki’s tenure.

He further detailed that former President Uhuru Kenyatta also had planned to introduce the Universal Health Care programme but it was marred with controversies and political interference.

However, Kindiki noted that President Ruto would not drop his push to make SHA work and serve all Kenyans irrespective of their financial status.

“One year from now, the people who are challenging this programme will be shocked. We tried to introduce this system under former President Mwai Kibaki, but it was marred by politics, and Kibaki said let us take it slow.

“President Uhuru tried around 2018 when he came up with the Big Four Agenda; one of them was Universal Health Care. Politics came, and we backtracked,” Kindiki explained.

“This time around, we are not backtracking. We will struggle with it until it succeeds,” he insisted.

The Social Health Authority (SHA) has been mandated to manage the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), which replaced NHIF.

Opposition

The SHA programme has faced hurdles since its launch in the country. The opposition led by Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has been at the forefront of challenging the programme.

Kalonzo and his allies want SHA to be dropped, claiming that the programme is linked with Adani Group.

“It is not enough to cancel the Adani Group deals in JKIA and Ketraco; Adani is also in SHA/SHIF. Ruto should also cancel this deal immediately,” Kalonzo insisted.

The church also raised concerns about the implementation of SHA arguing that it was rushed leaving many Kenyans stranded.

They also stated that many health facilities are stranded since the now-defunct NHIF owed them billions in terms of debt.

However, the Ministry of Health vowed to expedite the process of clearing the debts and disbursing funds to hospitals registered under SHA.