President William Ruto has defended former President Uhuru Kenyatta against criticism over changes to the maternal health program Linda Mama, which has been replaced by the Linda Jamii package.
Speaking at Umma University on Tuesday, Ruto said the new program was built on lessons learned from its predecessor and aimed to expand coverage and benefits.
“Maybe use this occasion to defend my former boss, the former President. To defend him, we should be a bit more magnanimous to him. The Linda Mama program was a great program that we developed. Under the leadership of President Uhuru, we learnt a lot from the Linda Mama program,” Ruto said.
He explained that the Linda Jamii program improves on Linda Mama by extending support beyond mothers to entire households, covering prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care.
“Because of the experiences, because of the lessons learnt from the Linda Mama program, we designed the Linda Jamii program, which was an improvement. Linda Mama was good; Linda Jamii is obviously better. And therefore, it is an improvement from what it was in terms of the scope… We have now improved it to cover pre-natal, that is, before delivery, the delivery itself, post-natal and it is no longer targeting the mother but the community,” Ruto added.
President William Ruto during the groundbreaking ceremony of Umma University in Kajiado County on September 30, 2025.
Previously mothers received Sh2,000 to Sh5,000, with services limited to dispensaries and health centers. Under the new scheme, benefits have increased to between Sh10,000 and Sh30,000, and 627,155 mothers have delivered under the Social Health Authority program so far.
The debate over maternal healthcare in the country has recently resurfaced after former President Uhuru Kenyatta claimed that the Jubilee administration’s Linda Mama Programme was more effective compared to the Kenya Kwanza administration’s Linda Jamii Initiative.
Although the two programmes are often confused due to their similar names, they differ significantly in design and coverage.
Uhuru’s Linda Mama
The Linda Mama programme, introduced by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration and previously managed by the now-defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), aimed to reduce maternal and child mortality.
Launched in October 2016 as an expansion of the Free Maternity Services programme from June 2013, it provided free antenatal care, delivery, postnatal care, and three months of newborn care.
“The Programme covers nine months of pregnancy and three months post-delivery. All public, private, and faith-based health facilities that are duly accredited and contracted by NHIF implement the Programme,” a previous Attorney General report read.
Ruto’s Linda Jamii
The Linda Jamii Programme, introduced in June 2025 under the Social Health Authority, covers the expectant mother, her husband, and other children.
The package includes antenatal care, delivery, postnatal care, essential newborn services, and advanced services such as ICU and HDU care for both mother and child in case of complications.
It also includes Anti-D serum treatment for Rhesus-negative mothers to prevent complications in future pregnancies.