Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi on Wednesday, September 25, on the receiving end of the wrath of Kenyans online after defending President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ngunyi castigated Kenyans online for criticising reports that President Kenyatta had won an award for Universal Health Coverage - one of the pillars in the Big 4 Agenda.
There was no official communication on the details of the award with the only statement being shared online reading, "President Uhuru Kenyatta has won the Political Leadership Award for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) from the African Union, Access Challenge."
The analyst noted that all the remarks following the unconfirmed reports were skewed to bashing the head of state rather than celebrating his achievements in the health sector.
In a scathing attack, Ngunyi stated, "Kenyans are such acidic pessimists. No wonder our breath smells like sulphur. Uhuru wins an award on Universal Health Coverage, we marinate the good news with acidic pessimism. Zero facts. This country needs Jesus."
His comment elicited comments from a section of Kenyans online who faulted Ngunyi for his remark adding that the state of Kenya's healthcare system was not worth winning an award for.
"Awarding Uhuru for UHC is like awarding Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe for best economic growth in Africa," One user stated
"Are you crazy? Few despots sitting in AU offices decide to massage egos of one of their own but you expected us to celebrate. Walk into any public hospital and you will be very ashamed. Patients can't access drugs, pregnant women being locked out of hospitals due to lack of Ksh20," another added.
"Sir, Jesus would ask Uhuru to give back that award because he doesn't deserve it. Our health care system is in shambles. If anything that award needs to go to India. They treat our more Kenyans than the system we have in place," one netizen stated.
While addressing a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) held on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 23, President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the Kenyan government was rolling out the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program as part of a grand plan to transform Kenya into a newly industrialized middle-income country by 2030.
The President added that access to affordable and quality health services would help end extreme poverty and improve productivity, especially in low and middle-income countries.
"My Government’s Vision 2030 aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrialized middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030. We believe that improving the health and welfare of citizens lays guarantees for economic growth and competitiveness by ensuring healthy productive populations," Uhuru stated.
