Why Ruto is unforgivable to the disgruntled in Mt Kenya Kenya

Good morning dear reader. Oh such greetings depend on when you get to read this article. However, two funerals come to mind that represent the dynamics of our politics. It’s amazing how as a nation we have turned funerals to be platforms to make political declarations, such that we end up talking more about the politics of the day, than the bereaved.

True to it, in the last two weeks, two burials, one in Kirinyaga, and another in Ol Kalou have provided a platform for both political rapprochement and contestation at the same time.

Some leaders, mostly those who served in the previous administration used the occasion in Kirinyaga to throw barbs at the current administration. To them, they are the only ones capable of uniting the country together with the late Rt Hon Raila Odinga. In fact, according to them, their track record is much more superior to the current administration. Erstwhile political nemesis used the occasion to demonstrate their reunion with a call for the people from the mountain to unite behind them.

In Olkalou, the oppositional forces clearly framed the contest to demonstrate that only they have the monopoly of politics in the region, directly insinuating that if the President needed the votes from the region, he needed to go through them.

Obviously the president went ahead to clearly state his track record and made it clear, that he has the duty of uniting the country under the broad-based government. In addition, he enumerated the various programmes and projects that he has been able to do under his tenure.

It’s important to ask the question why some leaders find it difficult to forgive the President. To begin with, he did the unthinkable. By God’s grace he went ahead to win the 2022 elections against the wishes of the establishment at that time, who thought that the presidency was their preserve, now that they had dominated it for over 50 years.  This is indeed unforgivable especially when you come to think of the fact that the win was against the state machinery. All efforts were put in place to ensure that this didn’t happen. We thank God though that the will of the people wasn’t overturned, and that the Judiciary unanimously confirmed that outcome.

Secondly, the people who currently claim to control the political support base of Mt Kenya region were key campaigners of the President in the last general elections. They find it difficult to accept that the President still has support in the region without them.  This way, they are thus relying on that card to negotiate with him. It’s a bargaining chip rather than having genuine concerns of the people at heart. This came out clearly in Olkalou.  It’s ironical because if you look at the development budget for the last few years, the mountain has actually gotten the lion’s share. In addition, the notion that all the appointees from Mt Kenya have been shown the door is a big lie. 

Recently at a function in Nyeri under the Mt Kenya caucus of Cabinet secretaries, Principal secretaries, senior government officials, chairmen, CEOs and directors of state corporations,  a whole one and a half hours were spent introducing the officials, due to their big number. It’s therefore not true to say that the people from the region aren’t in the government. For example, we have more than seven Cabinet secretaries and 15 PSs from the region. That is why the President put it clearly that he knows his association with the people from the region, and that he has had a long history with them.

One of the most enduring questions is about the development track record between the previous administration and the current one. It appears that some people are fairly uncomfortable with the great trajectory that the President has taken both locally and internationally, fearing that it would eclipse their own standing.

However, facts speak for themselves. It is true that since independence, only eight million Kenyans had been registered under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).  Today, the number stands at 30.3 million. This is phenomenal to say the least. Secondly, the Affordable housing programme has procured over 273,000 units so far, including 178,000 student hostels, and over 500 markets.  Only 8,000 houses had been constructed by 2022.  In education, a shortfall of 116,000 teachers has been bridged, with the government employing 100,000 teachers thus far and constructing over 23,800 new classrooms. In addition, over 9.9 million textbooks have been distributed so far across over 32,000 primary schools. This has enabled a smooth transition from the 8-4-4 to CBE and the Competence Based Education and Training (CBET).

The President has fought cartels in the coffee, sugar, oil and other industries, something that has led to better prices for farmers. Today, coffee which used to be sold at Sh50 per kilo is going for up to Sh148 for the same quantity. The same applies to sugarcane and tea, with farmer earnings expected to peak by 2027. Road construction that had stalled, has been unlocked, with the securitisation of the RMLF, such that Sh175 billion has been used to unlock over 6,000 kilometers of roads across the country. This is just a tip of the iceberg, as no other President has been able to achieve that much within three years, especially when it was said that the economy would collapse within three to six months of the new administration.

The quest to transform Kenya under President William Samoei Ruto is unstoppable.

The writer is the Government Spokesman