Ruto’s Jamhuri Day Speech Was Factual And Anchored On A Well Done Research
The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto during Jamhuri Day celebrations
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- President Ruto’s speech resonated with the one he made in June 1 when he led the Nation in marking this year’s 60th Mashujaa day cerebration.
- The head of state minced no word in firing a stern warning to public servants and state officers who were contemplating stealing and looting the taxpayers’ money.
- He noted that billions of shillings will be allocated to run Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
- A huge of these monies will come from your pockets as monthly contributions.
- The national and county governments will also allocate more funds to power this noble initiative.
- Some of the officers entrusted to manage these funds might think this is an opportune time of stealing and lining up their pockets. I will be very hard on them.
Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate President William Ruto’s speech writers and researchers.
This time, they did a commendable job. The speech apart from highlighting the achievements of his administration it enumerated the work in progress and the challenges that stood in his way.
As we recall, President Ruto assumed office at a time when the country was facing four main challenges: a dilapidated economy, droughts rated to be the worst in 40 years; Russian-Ukraine war; hefty foreign debts and when the country was recovering from devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
In the face of the biting drought, he had no option but to channel all public resources towards fighting hunger.
Quick interventions by Dr Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua saved the lives of many Kenyans who were staring at death.
Reflecting on this journey, Dr Ruto, who led the Nation in marking this year’s Jamhuri Day at Uhuru Garden in Nairobi, noted: My administration has made tremendous progress in many ways. He was referring to a raft of promises the duo made during the campaigns.
On job creation, he listed the Hustler Fund and Affordable Housing Project. We have also secured thousands of jobs abroad. On health, he cited the rolling out of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
We recently unveiled Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) which replaced the National Social Insurance Fund (NHIF). Parliament had introduced and factored key reforms.
Under this fund, all Kenyans will be covered and hence access the health services.
The government will pay for the elderly and other vulnerable Kenyans who cannot be able to raise their contributions.
We have also increased the budgetary allocations for drugs and expansion of public health facilities.
The President further cited the recruitment of Community Health Promotors (CHP).
We have increased the number of promoters and for the first time we are paying them a stipend. The county government will pay a portion and we will pay the other.
President Ruto’s speech resonated with the one he made in June 1 when he led the Nation in marking this year’s 60th Mashujaa day cerebration.
The head of state minced no word in firing a stern warning to public servants and state officers who were contemplating stealing and looting the taxpayers’ money.
He noted that billions of shillings will be allocated to run Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
A huge of these monies will come from your pockets as monthly contributions.
The national and county governments will also allocate more funds to power this noble initiative.
Some of the officers entrusted to manage these funds might think this is an opportune time of stealing and lining up thier pockets. I will be very hard on them.
Kericho county hosted the Mashujaa day cerebration which was held at the main Green Stadium in Kericho town.
This was in line with the spirit of furthering the course of the new constitution that was promulgated in 2010.
The president had earlier reiterated the place of state officials stealing hard earned public taxes is in jail.
During Devolution Conference held in Eldoret, he had fired a similar warning. He told governors of 47 counties. The national government has been allocating a huge chunk of taxpayer money. Kenyans want to see the value of their money. What most of you have done so far is below their expectations.
He spoke as some 8 current and former governors were battling charges of corruption, economic sabotage and abuse of office in court.
This reminded me of what happened in Nigeria when the devolution was introduced. The pioneer county bosses thought that it is time to eat.
Little did they know that then President was a non-nonsense man. He was committed to walk the talk in slaying the dragon of corruption. He left half of them in jail when he retired.
Since he assumed office, President Ruto has been escalating the matters by calling on the heads of the anti-graft bodies to live up to their oath of office. There are no sacred cows in my government. You have my full support.
Turning to elected leaders, he always reminded them that they were not above the law. You must be accountable to the electorates. If not, you are not worth to be called leaders. They did not elect you to steal their resources.
The President’s interventions have been resonating very well with the masses because this signaled a radical departure from Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency.
Uhuru was known for talking tough but without taking any tangible action.
There was a time he said that Sh2 billion was being stolen every day in Kenya but this matter ended there.
The head of public service Felix Koskei announced a few days ago that Ruto administration is in the process of setting an inquiry to look at this matter.
As of now, we cannot tell whether what the former President said is true or not. Koskei further stated that a donor have agreed to fund the inquiry.
Having said this, I want to assure Kenyans that President Ruto is committed to win the war against graft. You can take this to the bank. Koskei, the head of public service spoke at the Bomas of Kenya where he was hosted by the civil society organizations involved in the fight against.
Back to Uhuru, he had earlier shocked Kenyans when he hosted the heads of anti-graft bodies at State House Nairobi.
Though one would have expected him to take on them for frustrating his administration’s efforts to fight mega corruption scandals, he instead appeared helpless as he threw his hands in air. He posed: What do you want me to do? Kenyans interpreted this to mean they were on thier own.
President Ruto again took a bold move when he thwarted a plot to steal Sh3.7 billion from the Global Fund earmarked for purchasing and supplying mosquito nets to tens of thousands of downtrodden Kenyans.
He fired the senior officials at the Ministry of Health and Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) who had been adversely mentioned.
He also called for the prosecution of the culprits.
The other day we saw Koskei unveiling a raft of measures aimed at streaming the water works sector.
At Athi Water Works Development Agency, he announced the cancellation of the contract of the Chief Executive Officer and anti-graft bodies to commence investigations against him.
At KFS, President Ruto endorsed the decision of the board to sack and send 29 managers and forest rangers packing. Those culpable should face the law.
At this juncture, allow me to turn to the narrative of Ruto’s well-known critics. They wanted Kenyans to believe that there was nothing to be proud of. Corruption is rife and President Ruto is just ‘watching’. He is doing nothing to reverse the trend.
The top leadership of the opposition Azimio La Umoja-OKA coalition is the leading peddler of these claims.
The coalition is yet to recover from setback and shock of losing the elections.
In yester years, Azimio leader Raila Odinga had curved a niche of being a whistleblower. He had indeed become a household during the reign of President Mwai Kibaki and his successor Uhuru Kenyatta.
He had unearthed and exposed a number of mega corruption scandals.
But one thing remained clear. He would play this role when he was fighting and pushing the government of the day to succumb to his demands.
Once he had fought his way and occupied his seat at the high table where the national cake is being shared, he always become contented. He would no longer blow the whistle.
We know today he is harboring a major grudge with the current government of President Ruto.
As such, one would have expected him to be in forefront of exposing the so called corruption scandals if they ever existed.
He would not dare to do this. Reason? He knew he would end up being embarrassed and ashamed because of peddling outright lies.
But many Kenyans believed those cooking these stories fully enjoyed his blessing.
Reason? This card was helping him to further his political course. By painting him in bad light, he hoped this would make Dr Ruto soften his stance and invite him for talks.
It has dawned on him that Dr Ruto is a hard nut to crack. He cannot succumb to these tricks designed to blackmail and intimidate him.
For now, Raila’s latest remarks and body language points to this. He wants to make peace with the President. Has realized this when it is too late?
He has been desperately looking for an opportunity to have one-on-one meeting with President Ruto.
It worth noting. Raila lost the election to Dr Ruto. After being declared the winner by the IEBC chairman, Raila filed a petition at the Supreme Court of Kenya to challenge his victory. He lost the case and the court upheld the Dr Ruto’s victory.
Also, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka confirmed this when he spoke in Machakos during the Saba Saba demonstrations. He stated. Our eader Raila Odinga lost but Ruto won with a slight margin of 60,000 votes. This explains why the country is divided in the middle. We therefore call upon Ruto to respond to our calls for dialogue.
With this, President Ruto does not owe Raila any debt.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Gachagua escalates war with Ruto, questions his security
- Uhuru draws the line
- Creative Writers Mark 7th Year with 120+ Book Releases
- Sudan’s forgotten crisis: A nation on the brink of collapse
- Breaking the cycle of violence: A call for accountability
About the Author
