Amid the ongoing debate surrounding the legacy of the Linda Mama policy, the government has been urged to consider implementing a two-child per family policy.
In his statement on Tuesday, September 30, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei proposed the policy, saying it would help ensure quality, affordable lifestyle for most families.
He made the proposal while discussing his preference for Kenya Kwanza's Linda Taifa/Linda Jamii initiative over the Linda Mama initiative during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's tenure.
He said that Linda Taifa is better since it protects the whole family by providing access to affordable healthcare.
“Linda Jamii/ Linda Taifa is better by far from moribund Linda mama because it protects the entire family through access to affordable and quality health care."
“Infact, as a country, we should consider the Japanese two-child policy [sic] per family to ensure quality and affordable lifestyles for most of the families in Kenya,” he said.
According to the senator, Linda Jamii provides comprehensive household health coverage, whereas Linda Mama covered only maternity.
He said that while Linda Jamii covers vulnerable mothers, their spouses and children, Linda Mama only covered pregnant mothers and newborns.
Cherargei said that, in terms of coverage, Linda Jamii plays a major role since it covers the full range of services under the SHA funds, including PHC, SHIF and ECCIF, whereas Linda Mama only covered maternal healthcare services under NHIF.
Ruto Defends Uhuru's Linda Mama
On September 30, Ruto revealed that his administration borrowed immensely from Uhuru's Linda Mama in order to improve the successor programme, Linda Jamii. This programme now covers prenatal, natal and postnatal healthcare for expectant mothers.
"Maybe let me use this occasion to defend my former boss, the former President. To defend him, we should be a bit more magnanimous toward him. The Linda Mama programme was a great programme that we developed under the leadership of President Uhuru, and we learnt a lot from the Linda Mama programme," Ruto stated.
''Because of the experiences from the Linda Mama Programme, we designed the Linda Jamii Programme, which was an improvement over its predecessor. We did not stop at it; we now even have the Universal Health Coverage.'' Ruto said.
