President William Ruto during the two-day Kenya Health Summit held on August 18 and 19 this year/PCSPresident William Ruto has dismissed attacks from his political rivals, saying he is confident Kenyans will distinguish between political slogans and leaders with clear plans for the country.
“I am not scared at all. I mean, I trust the judgement of the people of Kenya, that they can be able to see where a plan is and where an agenda is,” Ruto said during a meeting with journalists at State House.
The President challenged his political opponents to move beyond insults and slogans and present Kenyans with alternative policies as the country heads towards the 2027 General Election.
Ruto said opposition leaders had focused largely on criticising his administration without explaining what they would do differently if elected.
He challenged his rivals to outline their plans for programmes such as the Affordable Housing programme, the Social Health Authority (SHA) and the new university funding model instead of simply promising to scrap them.
“It cannot be your agenda that I’m going to stop housing; I am going to stop SHA; I am going to stop the university funding, and you cannot tell the public an alternative,” he said.
He challenged his opponents to focus on how they would improve existing programmes rather than simply promising to abolish them.
“My competitors have to think beyond insults, slogans and chants. We encourage leaders to tell the country, ‘Okay, William Ruto has done this. I can do better. This is how I can make things better,” Ruto said.
Ruto said he remained confident in the judgement of Kenyan voters and was prepared to account for his administration’s performance.
“Today, without fear of any contradiction, I can give an account of the four years I’ve been in office on everything that I have done,” he said.
Ruto’s remarks come as opposition leaders step up efforts to build a political alliance capable of challenging him in the 2027 election.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, former Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa are among leaders positioning themselves to challenge Ruto.
The leaders have criticised the Kenya Kwanza administration over what they describe as failure to fulfil promises made before the 2022 election.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has also declared his opposition to the Kenya Kwanza administration after unveiling his People’s Party of Kenya (PPK). He has said he will work with other leaders to unseat Ruto.
The President also defended the "hustler" and “bottom-up” concepts that formed the centrepiece of his 2022 campaign.
Ruto said the concepts were not merely campaign slogans but represented a policy approach aimed at directing government support towards low-income households and small businesses.
He cited the Hustler Fund, SHA, university education support and the Affordable Housing programme as examples of the implementation of the bottom-up approach.
“Hustler was not a slogan. Hustler was a fund. Today, Hustler Fund has lent Sh90 billion to 27 million Kenyans,” he said.
Ruto said small traders, boda boda operators and other low-income earners had used the Hustler Fund to start or expand their businesses.
“There are people every morning who wake up to borrow money from Hustler Fund to run their small businesses,” he said.
The President’s comments come amid an increasingly competitive political environment, with opposition leaders seeking to build a broad coalition ahead of the 2027 election.
