Kindiki displaced Linda Mama, tells critics to be honest about SHA

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has urged critics of the Kenya Kwanza government’s programmes to be honest in their assessments, insisting that the Social Health Authority (SHA) offers broader coverage than previous health schemes.

Speaking in Dadaab Town, Garissa County, on Saturday, September 27, 2025, Kindiki dismissed comparisons between SHA and the Jubilee-era Linda Mama programme, arguing that critics were missing the bigger picture.

“If you just provide for mothers and their children, you leave out all the others, which doesn’t sort out the issue,” he said.

Kindiki noted that SHA, which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), is designed as a universal health cover targeting all Kenyans, including mothers, children, youth, and the elderly.

Kindiki also called on residents of northern Kenya to support the administration, noting that the region is now benefitting from unprecedented public investment after years of neglect.

e highlighted the 750-kilometre Isiolo–Mandera Highway, describing it as the country’s longest road project since independence. Once complete, he said, the road will ease mobility, reduce commodity prices, open up economic opportunities, and enhance security.

The Deputy President further cited the ongoing tarmacking of the 370-kilometre Lamu–Ijara–Garissa–Isiolo Road and the planned Garissa–Dadaab–Liboi–Harhar corridor, which will link Kenya to Somalia. Other key projects include the construction of the Tana River Bridge in Garissa Town and electricity connections to 7,200 households in Garissa County, with 3,700 in Dadaab Constituency.

Kindiki also lauded the reopening of the Garissa immigration office after a decade-long closure, saying it would ease access to government services for residents of North Eastern Kenya.

He criticised the vetting process that previously complicated the issuance of identification documents in the region.

“If vetting will apply, then it has to be across the whole country, not just to some sections,” he said.