‘It was hurried’ – Gachagua criticises pace with which SHA has been implemented

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has criticised the implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA).

The former Member of Parliament has said, in an interview with a local TV station, the programme has been rushed and there was no sufficient reason for the migration from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to SHA.

“Then, as it is today, my position is the same. One, it was hurried, and there was no sufficient reason to move hastily from NHIF to the new programme. 

“And from my own reasoning, when I even look at the mathematics surrounding that programme is that it would have cost us between Ksh700 million and Ksh800 million to upgrade the system that was running the NHIF to make it compliant.

“Yet we are moving to a new programme that is costing Ksh104 billion. And in my view, my honest view, that is the crux of the matter, that is the rush, that is the focus, the Ksh104 billion,” Gachagua said even when President William Ruto and his deputy, Kithure Kindiki, continue to defend the new service.

Peoples’ voice

To Gachagua, the Kenya Kwanza government ought to have listened to the people before implementing SHA.

“When you listen, you know I am a peoples’ person, and probably many people thought that I was a rebel within the government; I was not a rebel. 

“I was a deputy president of a popularly elected government that is answerable to the people, and in my view, we in government are the employees of the people. If the people are your employers, any opinion counts. You cannot dismiss what they think and feel,” he added.

He also defended himself from some of the criticism he received while serving as the deputy president.

“That is why even Members of Parliament were accusing me of intimidating them when I told them to listen to the ground during the Finance Bill 2024. This is because I listen to the ground and I take time to listen to what people are saying,” he concluded.