President William Ruto arriving for a meeting with village elders at State House on Tuesday/ HANDOUTPresident William Ruto has unveiled a plan to entrench his flagship development agenda in law, seeking to protect key government programmes from being dismantled by future administrations.
He said the move would ensure that projects agreed upon through the planned national dialogue on the country's long-term development vision remain binding, regardless of who wins future elections.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday, Ruto accused his political opponents of opposing transformative projects and threatening to scrap them without offering alternative solutions.
“Some people are opposing development. Those who are opposing housing, those who are opposing the model we have of educating our children, what is your plan?” he posed.
The President said the country was preparing for a national conversation on its long-term economic direction, after which the agreed priorities would be anchored in legislation.
“When we finish that dialogue on the vision of our country and the economic development that we shall agree on, we shall put it in law so that nobody will take us back again,” he said.
The remarks came amid sustained criticism from opposition leaders, who have vowed to scrap several of Ruto's flagship programmes should they win power in the 2027 general election.
Among the projects under attack are the Social Health Authority, which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund, the Affordable Housing Programme, and the new university students' funding model.
Opposition leaders have argued the initiatives have been poorly formulated and have imposed an unnecessary financial burden on Kenyans.
Ruto, however, defended the programmes, saying they were already delivering results and transforming lives across the country.
“Some people thought nothing good could happen in Kenya. In the last four years, we have demonstrated the potential of this country to grow and solve its problems,” he said.
The President singled out the Affordable Housing Programme as one of the government's biggest achievements, saying critics who dismissed it had been proved wrong.
“When we talked about housing, people dismissed it. Today, housing is everywhere. In every region, we have a programme of housing,” Ruto said.
Instant analysis
Last week, Ruto announced plans for a national convention to kick-start discussions on Kenya's long-term development blueprint, arguing that the country's economic agenda should transcend political transitions.
The initiative has drawn mixed reactions, with supporters describing it as a way of guaranteeing policy continuity, while critics view it as an attempt to lock future governments into the Kenya Kwanza administration's programmes and limit their policy choices.
