Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has sharply criticised his predecessor Rigathi Gachagua, accusing him of advancing what he termed retrogressive and anti-people positions, particularly on key government programmes.
Speaking during an Interdenominational Sunday Worship and Thanksgiving Service at Maemba in Sigowet Soin Constituency, Kericho County, Kindiki took issue with Gachagua’s reported declaration that he would dissolve the Social Health Authority (SHA) and the affordable housing programme, should he get elected president.
“Rigathi (Gachagua) is on a destruction mode and his declaration that he will dissolve SHA and affordable housing should he assume office is retrogressive and anti-people,” Kindiki said.
The Deputy President defended the two initiatives, which are among the flagship programmes of the Kenya Kwanza administration, arguing that they are designed to expand access to healthcare and decent housing for ordinary Kenyans.
He warned that dismantling such programmes would undermine efforts to improve livelihoods and address long-standing social and economic challenges.
Kindiki’s remarks come a day after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua declared that he would abolish the Social Health Authority (SHA) and scrap the Affordable Housing initiative if elected president in 2027.
Speaking during a public address, Gachagua took direct aim at the SHA, which replaced the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), and the affordable housing programme, both flagship initiatives of the current administration.
He said his first actions in office would be to reverse the two policies.
“If you elect me as president in 2027, my first job will be to abolish that animal called SHA and return NHIF,” Gachagua said.
“And this Affordable Housing, there is nobody who doesn't have a house. We don't want those houses.”
Gachagua argued that the housing programme does not address the real needs of Kenyans and pledged to dismantle it entirely.
He said that under his leadership, any housing units already constructed would not remain under the national government.
“When I become president, I will also scrap the Affordable Housing and transfer the constructed units to counties to rent and refund those who had contributed,” he said.
His remarks are the latest in a series of sharp criticisms directed at the government’s social and economic reforms, particularly in the health and housing sectors.
The SHA was introduced to expand universal health coverage, while the affordable housing programme aims to increase access to decent housing and create jobs.
The former DP did not provide details on how the proposed refunds to contributors would be financed or how counties would manage the housing units, but insisted that his approach would better serve citizens.
