Kenya's President-elect William Ruto addressing the nation after he was announced winner on August 15.
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- In some quarters, he was casted as untried and untested leader. Again, this card would bore the fruit. People would recall his political journey which started in 1992 when he served as Chief Executive Officer of YK’92 and later become a member of parliament in 1997.
- Since then, his star continued to shine. Today Ruto, a son of the peasant, is the President of Kenya.
- Dr Ruto made a raft of promises in run-up to 2022 General Election. This reminded me of similar pledges he and Uhuru Kenyatta had made in 2013 and 2017. A good number of these promises were never fulfilled. So, the question is. Will Dr Ruto keep his word this time?
It is now official. The outgoing Deputy President William Samoei Ruto is poised to become the 5th President of Republic of Kenya. This follows the unanimous decision by the seven judges of the highest court on the land-the Supreme Court of Kenya-that confirmed he had won the election held on 9th of August this year.
The reactions of his main petitioner-the Azmio One Kenya presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua-did not come as surprise. It was hard to believe they had lost the case in light of the voluminous evidential documents they presented in court during the hearing. They believed they had a water-tight case.
Besides, this was not the first time this happened. In 2013 polls, Raila suffered the same fate and his reaction was the same. It took him some weeks before he accepted the decision of then Dr Willy Mutunga-led court that had confirmed UhuRuto’s victory.
Well, Raila is a democrat and iconic hero of the second liberation struggles. However, if you look at our history one thing is clear. The work of those who have fought for freedom from trenches is not recognized or appreciated.
Kenyans reward the corroborators and those who choose to stay in comfort zone and unapologetically supported the acts of commissions and omissions of the previous corrupt and oppressive regimes.
There is nothing we can do about this. This is because Kenya is a democratic country. Our democracy is anchored on universal suffrage which means the people of Kenya are supreme.
For the President-elect, this is question his supporters used to pose. If you say he is ‘corrupt’, how come you are not subjecting him to the due process of law?
At no time the President-elect was arraigned in court to answer charges of corruption. Perhaps, this would explain why millions of Kenyans voted for him.
In some quarters, he was casted as untried and untested leader. Again, this card would bore the fruit. People would recall his political journey which started in 1992 when he served as Chief Executive Officer of YK’92 and later become a member of parliament in 1997.
Since then, his star continued to shine. Today Ruto, a son of the peasant, is the President of Kenya.
Dr Ruto made a raft of promises in run-up to 2022 General Election. This reminded me of similar pledges he and Uhuru Kenyatta had made in 2013 and 2017. A good number of these promises were never fulfilled. So, the question is. Will Dr Ruto keep his word this time?
I heard him defending himself during the campaigns by stating. President Uhuru is the one who was at the helm of power during that period. For me, I was just helping my boss.
He would further allege. In his second term, the President opted to abandon me soon after the “handshake” with ODM leader Raila Odinga. The ‘kitendawilli’ usurped my work and that is when things started going the wrong way. Our ‘Big Four’ agenda run into trouble.
This clearly showed that Dr Ruto knew how to play politics and here I can say without fear of contraction that he outmatched Raila Odinga.
Some of the promises Ruto pledged to fulfill in 100 days were as follow; availing Sh100 billion for the youth kitty ‘Hustler Nation’ fund and Sh50 billion for Small, medium enterprises [SMEs}. Reduce the prices of maize flour [Unga] and fuel; reduce the cost of fertilizer from Sh6,000 to Sh2,000; ensure all Kenyans have NHIF cover and bailout those blacklisted in CRB.
He is now at the helm of power. Where will he get the money? I heard his Deputy President-elect Rigathi Gachagua saying they have inherited a ‘dilapidated’ government. He asked Kenyans to stop disturbing the new President because he will be busy raising the ‘hustler’ fund. We are committed to fulfill this promise in one year. He spoke during a church service in Njoro, Nakuru County.
For the President, maybe he knows where the money well come from. I wish him well.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Political Analyst based in Nairobi
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