Dr Ruto’s call on parliament, judiciary to support his Hustler Nation agenda timely

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Worth Noting:

• Having served the three previous administration, Dr Ruto understands the rules of game very well. He is privy to all the strategies the opposition can employ and, in his part; he has a bag full of counter strategies.
• At the back of his mind, one thing is clear. He cannot accept to go down as a one-term president. So he must work hard to fulfill the promises he made to Kenyans.
• He has made good progress. The idea of doing away with subsides and instead coming up with incentives meant to boost Agriculture and production is fantastic. This strategy will help our economy to grow and address the high cost of life. So, in coming months, Kenyans will have money in their pockets.

When he spoke during the burial of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s brother, President William Ruto reiterated the commitment of his government to fulfill the pre-election pledges. During the campaigns, we came here and asked you to give us jobs.

You heeded our call and turned up in large numbers to vote for us. Now the burden is our side and as the head of the executive, I commit to play my part.

The truth of matter, however, is that the national budget presented for this financial year had a deficit of Sh900 billion. This means we are going to borrow this amount to fill this gap. Besides this, Kenya is reeling under the weight of Sh10 trillion foreign debts.

As envisaged in our constitution, the government is formed by three key arms namely Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Though these arms are supposed to perform their duties independently, the same law requires them to focus on the bigger picture of serving the people of Kenya. So, none of them can work in isolation. Each must help the other to succeed.

For this reason, I fully concur with the President William Ruto’s assertions: I want to call upon Parliament and Judiciary to play their respective roles so that we can move our country forward.

For parliament, the house is expected to enact laws that will clear the way for the implementation of Hustler Nation agenda.

Judiciary is, on the hand, expected to interpret the law in a manner that would further this course. This is when handling the cases filed by Dr Ruto’s critics designed to derail and sabotage his agenda.

The critics are yet to accept that they lost the presidential election. This seems to explain why they have resorted to faulting every step that he has taken.

But for the President, he is not looking backward. His message to them is clear. You are free to criticize my government if something has gone wrong but do it in a responsible and constructive manner. If you opt to come and raise this matter with me, I will listen to you.

Having served the three previous administration, Dr Ruto understands the rules of game very well. He is privy to all the strategies the opposition can employ and, in his part; he has a bag full of counter strategies.

At the back of his mind, one thing is clear. He cannot accept to go down as a one-term president. So he must work hard to fulfill the promises he made to Kenyans.

He has made good progress. The idea of doing away with subsides and instead coming up with incentives meant to boost Agriculture and production is fantastic. This strategy will help our economy to grow and address the high cost of life. So, in coming months, Kenyans will have money in their pockets.

Dr Ruto has also kept his word to farmers. He has reduced the prices of fertilizers from Sh6, 500 to Sh3, 500. The judiciary also has a reason to smile. Moments after his swearing in, he appointed the six judges whose appointment had been put on hold.

He also promised to address the perennial problem of lack of enough budgets to cater for judicial operations. To start with, he announced his administration will allocate Sh3 billions to judiciary in coming few days.

In regard to cabinet’s decision to lift ban on Genetically Modified Crops [GMOs] and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s remarks on return of Shamba system, I have been listening to ongoing debate on these matters.

In my considered views, I want to say this. President Ruto is a wise man and loves the people of Kenya. He is a leader who listens and consults widely.

He would only act after receiving the views of experts. On GMOs a number of researches have been conducted. They all show the food is safe and fit for human consumption. So you would not expect him to append his signature to something that undermines the course of public interest. I wish him well. 

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political commentator based in Nairobi