Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has defended the government’s new maternal health program, Linda Jamii, insisting it expands and improves the benefits previously offered under the Linda Mama initiative.
Speaking on Tuesday, September, at Umma University in Kajiado, Duale rejected claims by former President Uhuru Kenyatta that Linda Mama was a better program, emphasizing that Linda Jamii delivers wider and more comprehensive healthcare coverage for Kenyan families.
“The benefits of Linda Mama, as we said, have not been scrapped. Nobody has scrapped Linda Mama. But what have we done? We have enhanced the cover of the mother and added the family, the children,” Duale said, highlighting the inclusive nature of the new scheme.
Duale explained that under Linda Mama, reimbursements were limited, Sh2,500 for normal deliveries and Sh5,000 for Caesarean sections and access was mainly restricted to dispensaries and health centers.
Linda Jamii, by contrast, raises reimbursements to Sh10,000 for normal deliveries and Sh30,000 for Caesarean sections, and it is available across a broader network of facilities.
The CS highlighted additional improvements, including full coverage of the maternal healthcare journey, encompassing antenatal visits, delivery, postnatal care, and essential newborn services.
Notably, the program now provides anti-D serum treatment for Rhesus-negative mothers, a critical intervention that was not included under Linda Mama.
Families can also register spouses and children, while special health cards have been introduced to support teenage mothers.
Duale challenged former President Kenyatta’s assertion about Linda Mama’s effectiveness in improving maternal health outcomes.
“And if you think Linda Mama was a big thing for you, how come it has not reduced the maternal mortality rate in our country?” he asked, pointing out that maternal deaths remain high in at least 20 counties.
He emphasized that lowering maternal mortality is a top priority for President William Ruto’s administration and that Linda Jamii is central to achieving that goal.
The transition to Linda Jamii is part of broader health sector reforms under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda and is managed by the Social Health Authority (SHA), which replaced the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October 2023.
Former President Kenyatta has criticized the program, claiming the government is “eroding gains” previously achieved under Linda Mama.
Speaking at the Jubilee Party National Delegates Conference on September 26, 2025, he said, “Linda Mama and others have been replaced by new, untried and untested schemes. And while we wait for these experiments to work, Kenyans suffer and our progress is retarded.”
Launched on June 21, 2025, Linda Jamii is the government’s flagship maternal and family health program under SHA.
Unlike Linda Mama, which focused narrowly on maternity services, the new initiative covers mothers, children, and spouses while broadening the scope of healthcare services, easing the financial burden on households, and aiming to improve maternal and family health outcomes nationwide.