President William Ruto when he gave his speech at the 77 UN General Assembly in New York. [William Ruto, Twitter]
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- On the day that he landed in US, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the new prices of various brands of fertilizer whose cost had been reduced by half.
- In the UK, the President represented Kenya very well during the Royal funeral of the Queen Elizabeth II. After the burial, he was invited into a luncheon organized by newly inaugurated King Charles. He got an opportunity to speak with him.
- He also met British top business people and entrepreneurs. The talks centered on trade, commerce, job opportunities and security and he invited them to come and invest in Kenya. He rightly portrayed our country as peaceful and democratic nation. Recently, we held a General Election and despite being highly contested, peace and national unity prevailed.
I have been following with keen the President William Ruto’s trip to United Kingdom and United States of America and one thing remained clear. The trip was closely monitored by Kenyans and the world leaders. Reason? This was his first foreign trip and it came hot on heels of his swearing-in as the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya a week earlier.
Secondly, the world leaders were looking forward to meet a leader whose history is that of a man who started from the scratch. He was born a village boy but he never give up. His star continued to shine all the way.
In just concluded election, he managed overcome all the odds to beat the sons of the powerful families [UDA leaders and supporters used to refer them as siblings of dynasties] that had dominated the politics of this country since independence.
Thirdly, the visit came at a time when Kenyans were reeling under the weight of high cost of life. But as it turned out, President Ruto’s interventions had started to bore fruits.
On the day that he landed in US, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the new prices of various brands of fertilizer whose cost had been reduced by half.
In the UK, the President represented Kenya very well during the Royal funeral of the Queen Elizabeth II. After the burial, he was invited into a luncheon organized by newly inaugurated King Charles. He got an opportunity to speak with him.
He also met British top business people and entrepreneurs. The talks centered on trade, commerce, job opportunities and security and he invited them to come and invest in Kenya. He rightly portrayed our country as peaceful and democratic nation. Recently, we held a General Election and despite being highly contested, peace and national unity prevailed.
In US, the President got a good opportunity to show case his prowess and commitment to serve the people of Kenya when he addressed the 77th session of the United Nation General Assembly. He gave a powerful speech and the world leaders in attendance were buoyed by his eloquence and coherence. The speech mainly focused on food security and climatic change.
Kenya, he said, was ready to partner with the community of the world. We know that our people are facing numerous challenges. As leaders, we must strive to address them.
Kenya is one of the countries in African continent. So, he rallied the African leaders to conceptualize the idea of forming a strong Pan-African movement.
He also rooted for reforms at the United Nation Security Council [UNSC]. The council plays a critical role but we want this body to treat all of us equally.
I’m sure those who listened to his speech would agree with me. He spoke like a statesman and leader committed to a servant leadership.
Kenya is a developing country and that is why we have over the years partnered with the two economic giants. The support we have received from them has so far been channeled towards development of key sectors of our public life. This includes education, health, energy, food security and infrastructure.
Besides, matters national security and here much of the support had gone towards boosting the war against terrorism, money laundering and corruption.
For these reasons, President Ruto’s trip was timely and good for our country. It was meant to strengthen these bilateral ties.
For less than two weeks since he was sworn-in, Ruto’s political rivals have been denouncing everything that he was doing. This is despite the fact his actions were within the law and in line with promises he had made during the campaign period. So, these criticisms were widely interpreted as just hot air and borne out of jealousy.
The rivals were yet to come to terms that he had defeated them at the ballot. It is the time these leaders should reconsider their approach.
President Ruto has been rooting for a strong and responsible opposition that would put his government in check. This means the leadership of this outfit is expected to engage his administration in a mature, constructive and structured dialogue and criticism.
Ruto would reiterate: If you don’t like me as a person, you should not use this to settle personal political scores. Kenya is bigger than anyone of us. As leaders, we must bear this in mind. We are representatives of Kenyan people and as such we must focus our energy towards addressing the myriad of challenges facing them. In so doing, we will earn respect from them.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi
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