We simply built something better: Ruto responds to Uhuru's remarks on Linda Mama

Speaking during a Jubilee party meeting, Kenyatta said that a beneficial programme like Linda Mama has severely affected Kenyans and access to health services.

"Today, many of the gains of the past have been eroded. Linda Mama and others have been replaced by new, untried and untested schemes. While we wait for these experiments to work, Kenyans suffer and our progress is dragged," said Kenyatta.

In his rejoinder on Tuesday in Kajiado, President Ruto said that the programme was not changed but rather improved to Linda Jamii with an aim to serve more citizens.

He further urged Kenya Kwanza leaders to still accord Kenyatta credit for starting the programme, just that the new administration has forged something better.

"We should be a bit magnanimous to him (Kenyatta). Linda Mama was a great programme, we developed it under the Jubilee administration and because of the lessons we learnt we designed the Linda Jamii programme," Ruto said.

"Linda Mama was good and Linda Jamii is obviously better. It is an improvement from what it was in terms of the scope from just delivery of mothers which was the primary target and we've now improved it to cover pre-natal, delivery, post-natal and it's not only targeting mothers but also her household."

President Ruto further noted that the programme has made significant reach to Kenyan households, stating that numbers have increased from around 2,500 to now 10,000 to 30,000.

"We learned lessons from Linda Mama and built better programme," he added.

Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale however said that Mr. Kenyatta handed over power when Linda Mama had an over Ksh.5 billion debt and the current administration has still managed to deliver healthcare services to even more citizens.

"They left us with a Ksh.30 billion fictitious NHIF debt. Under that, the Linda Mama debt was 4.8 billion (inpatient) and outpatient was Ksh.306 million.

You (Kenyatta) should thank us," said Duale.

"17.5 million Kenyans visited over 10,000 facilities. 12.5 million of them accessed free medical care. I don't know whether that is transformative or reducing the gains somebody else has made."

Linda Mama program was launched in 2013 as a free health insurance program for pregnant women and their newborns, providing comprehensive services from antenatal care to postnatal and infant care, including immunizations and delivery.

The program was, however, replaced by Linda Jamii, a revamped maternal care package under the new Social Health Authority (SHA) that is set to cover the entire maternal journey.