Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo has claimed that he was offered a bribe of Ksh.4 million to vote in favour of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment.
The legislator claimed that the bribe was offered by “state agents” who wanted to influence the voting process against the embattled Gachagua.
He implied that those who hinted at voting against the impeachment were subjected to endless threats.
“At least in the Gachagua matter there was such [an] approach and it didn’t work and it had conditions. It was an offer of Ksh.4 million if you vote YES. And if you take it, and vote NO, then you’d not get to your home,” Maanzo said on Tuesday while speaking on Citizen TV.
He accused Kenya’s Parliament of passing unchecked laws under duress, claiming that this is at the heart of the country’s ongoing crisis.
“This bribery in the House must stop. We are running the country through bribes,” he added.
The rampant alleged bribery, Maanzo added, has crippled the health sector since the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), which has been plagued by failed systems and outrage from Kenyans denied medical services.
The President stated that this administration will implement Universal Health Coverage, citing previous administrations’ unsuccessful attempts to do so.
He did, however, mention that some of the issues affecting its implementation may take some time to resolve due to the scope of the program.
“It is the biggest programme we have in the country. It may take time for things to align, but believe you me: It is going to work,” he said while speaking during a Sunday service in Roysambu, Nairobi on March 2, 2025.
Meanwhile, the Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association of Kenya (RUPHA) has announced it will suspend SHA services citing continued ignorance to iron out existing challenges.
The most significant barriers include prolonged system downtime, delays in One-Time Password (OTP) verification, and an inability to track claim approvals—issues that have worsened over the past month.
“We have unpaid debt dating back to 2017, hospitals are facing bank defaults, we have stock out of essential medicines and many consultants haven’t been paid for years,” he stated.
