Interior PS Raymond Omollo speaking at State House on August 4, 22026 / PCSInterior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has described President William Ruto's engagement with village elders as a historic moment, saying it is the first time the country's grassroots leaders have received such recognition at the highest level of government.
PS Omollo said the elders present represented more than 100,000 of their colleagues nationwide.
Speaking on Tuesday at State House, Nairobi, where President Ruto hosted village elders from across the country, Omollo said the representatives would relay the President's message to fellow elders in villages across Kenya to support their continued work in communities.
He noted that the meeting marked a significant milestone in recognising the contribution village elders have made in nation-building and supporting successive governments.
The PS recalled that after assuming office, President Ruto initiated a series of engagements through the Interior Ministry to appreciate the role of village elders and committed to improving their welfare.
“Today is a historic day that in the history of this country, for the first time when you came to office, we had a series of engagements led by our cabinet secretary, and there have been previous conversations in parliament across our villages, first appreciating the role that our village elders have continued to play in building our society, in pushing the development of successive governments,” he said.
Omollo said the President had fulfilled his pledge to introduce a monthly stipend to facilitate the work of village elders.
"And today, being the end of the first month of the year that you had given the commitment that we will have some stipend to facilitate the work that these important people do for all of us," Omollo said.
He added that the government had already supported other sectors, including education, healthcare and students, and had now turned its attention to strengthening the National Government Administration by supporting village elders.
“You did make a commitment that under your leadership, just like you take care of every sector of the economy, you’ve looked at those who are in the education sector, you’ve looked at those in the healthcare sector, you’ve looked after all our students, and finally, as part of the national government administration, you have decided to look after our village elders.”
