Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has hit out at Kenyans and accused them of embracing pessimism.
Ngunyi branded Kenyans as "acidic pessimists" for failing to celebrate after President Uhuru Kenyatta won a global recognition.
The Head of State on Tuesday won the Political Leadership Award for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) from the African Union, Access Challenge.
The analyst observed hardly any citizen celebrated or congratulated Uhuru for his achievement and concluded Kenyans could only be saved through divine intervention.
"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!" Ngunyi tweeted on Wednesday night.
Reacting to the remarks University of Nairobi don Herman Manyora defended Kenyans, arguing they have nothing to celebrate about UHC since the health care system was in pathetic situation.
"Facts abound, Mutahi Ngunyi. Health care has totally collapsed in this country. If you didn’t have insurance cover, you’d know what Kenyans are going through. Even NHIF is a fraud," Manyora tweeted.
Speaking during the ongoing 74th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York, Uhuru noted that Kenya has made tremendous steps in its journey towards the achievement of UHC, but said a lot still needs to be done.
“This will only be impactful if translated from a shared vision to collaborative action resonating the principle of leave no one behind with every citizen and reinforcing the much needed social accountability for the success of service delivery and all interventions.
“We have learnt that progress towards UHC will require an integrated government approach and health system-wide approach,” added the President as he addressed the Assembly on Tuesday.
In 2018, the government launched UHC in pilot counties; Machakos, Isiolo, Nyeri and Kisumu, before rolling out the programme in the whole country.