Matiang’i calls for dialogue to revive crippled health system
By Joel Masibo, November 25, 2025Jubilee Party 2027 presidential candidate nominee Fred Matiang’i has called for dialogue as a nation to resolve the crisis that has crippled the public health system.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, the former Interior Cabinet Secretary admitted that many governments around the world leverage the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to provide medical services, but in Kenya, things are falling apart.
However, he said there is sufficient evidence that the Kenya Kwanza administration’s approach to UHC has completely failed to bear fruit, adding that there is an urgent need for debate over the matter and to find a long-lasting solution to the stalemate.
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Failed UHC approach
”Universal Health Care is what governments strive to do, whether that is coming through reforms, such as the Social Health Authority (SHA), which is a matter that needs to be debated. But clearly the approach which the government has taken is not working. It is time to step back and look at how best we can make it work,” Matiang’i said.
Matiang’i’s call comes weeks after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale flagged off a consignment of oxygen accessories under the Global Fund COVID-19 Response Mechanism Oxygen Infrastructure Project, which the CS described as a major boost to Kenya’s health system and our journey toward UHC.
Duale confirmed that the consignment, comprising 470 multiparameter monitors, 10,000 wall outlet flowmeters and 612 oxygen analysers, was to be distributed to health facilities across all 47 counties.
”This initiative strengthens our oxygen ecosystem by enhancing early therapy for newborns and supporting patients with respiratory conditions such as asthma, pneumonia and COPD,” Aden Duale said on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
Calling for right approach
Commenting on the issue, Matiang’i has said he will not be heard hurling insults in public over the failing health system, but rather prefers a round table discussion to arrive at an amicable solution.
”The objective of Universal Health Cover is good, but the method the current administration has adopted does not work. This is why you will not hear me insulting people in public; I would rather we debate this issue. Evidence is abundant; if it is not working, let us fix it and improve the livelihoods of our people,” he said.
At the moment when the public continues to suffer over the confusion surrounding the Social Health Authority (SHA) and its functionality, Matiang’i has cautioned against politicising the matter, calling upon leaders to have a sense of empathy towards the people.
”Hii sio siasa ati yule ama mwingine; wakati mwingine sisi kama viongozi tuangazie maslahi ya watu wetu,” he said.