RUTO HONOURS UHURU AMID CABINET ONSLAUGHT

President William Ruto has defended his former boss, Uhuru Kenyatta, amid mounting criticism from senior officials in his own government over the legacy of the Linda Mama maternal health programme.

Speaking at Umma University in Kajiado on September 30, Ruto praised the scheme introduced under Jubilee, saying it provided a stepping stone for the health reforms his administration is now implementing.

“Let me come to the defence of my former boss, the former president Uhuru, to defend him that we should be magnanimous to him. He, at times, led our country, and the Linda Mama programme was a great programme. We developed it under the Jubilee administration, under the leadership of President Uhuru,” Ruto said.

He explained that the lessons drawn from Linda Mama shaped the design of Linda Jamii, now anchored under the Social Health Authority (SHA). Unlike its predecessor, the new scheme stretches beyond delivery services to cover antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, with benefits extending to children and whole households.

“It (Linda Jamii) is an improvement of the Linda Mama programme. So, Linda Mama was good, Linda Jamii is obviously better,” the President added.

This comes barely a week after the Jubilee Party National Delegates Conference on September 26,where Uhuru Kenyatta accused the government of dismantling social programmes that cushioned vulnerable families in exchange of provisional ideas - at the expense of lives.

"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 Linda Mama and others have been replaced by new, untried and untested schemes.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 the former head of state.

In response to Uhuru's remarks, the Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale termed Linda Jamii as an upgrade of the defunct Linda Mama - which allegedly left behind debts.

“The Kenya Kwanza administration has not scrapped the Linda Mama programme but enhanced it. Our former boss (Uhuru Kenyatta) should be grateful. He left us with Sh30 billion fictitious debts trickling down to Sh5.6 billion under the Linda Mama programme,” Duale said.
He also questioned the programme’s actual impact, pointing to persistently high maternal deaths in several regions during Uhuru’s tenure.

“The retired President Uhuru should tell us why the maternal mortality was high during his administration if the Linda Mama was as good as he purports. We still have 20 counties where maternal mortality is high,” he added.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki also joined the onslaught , accusing Uhuru of dispelling inaccurate facts .While defending the government’s reforms he emphasized that Linda Mama had not been abolished but expanded to reach more people.

"Hii serikali ya Ruto, wale wanaikosoa waikosoe lakini wakuwe na ukweli...,” he said.

“Linda Mama ilikuwa inashughulika na akina mama wajawazito pekee. Sasa tumeipanua kupitia SHA na inalinda wamama, wazee, vijana na watoto. Tunaita Linda Jamii kwa sababu inalinda kila mmoja, sio mama pekee,” Kindiki added.

Yet, despite his Cabinet openly faulting the former head of state, President Ruto struck a reconciliatory tone. By openly crediting Uhuru for pioneering Linda Mama, even while championing his own reforms, Ruto signaled that his administration’s agenda builds on — rather than erases — the foundations laid by his predecessor.