The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- Besides, the entire speech was written in English and at no time did he switch to Kiswahili. A section of those, who attended this event, particularly some hustlers and elderly people, did not understand English language.
- Therefore, they were expecting the President to give a summary of his speech in Kiswahili. This is after presenting the official speech. This did not come to pass. The speechwriters seemed to have failed to bring that to his attention.
- For those I spoke to, they were however quick to point this. President Ruto is not to blame. His speechwriters are ones who bear the burden.
During the Mashujaa day cerebration, President William Ruto delivered a one hour and ten minutes speech at Uhuru Gardens in Langata. As a political commentator, I had opportunity to interact with a cross-section of Kenyans and hear their views on this matter.
Majority of them stated that the speech was too long. Kenyans are not used to listen to such long speeches and that is why his audience apparently got bored half-way.
As a result, the key policy issues he had raised seemed to have evaporated from their minds. The President took a lot of time to explain and reiterate on one issue. This is while bearing much of what he said bordered on policy matters. He should have left it to technocrats to do more explanations.
Besides, the entire speech was written in English and at no time did he switch to Kiswahili. A section of those, who attended this event, particularly some hustlers and elderly people, did not understand English language.
Therefore, they were expecting the President to give a summary of his speech in Kiswahili. This is after presenting the official speech. This did not come to pass. The speechwriters seemed to have failed to bring that to his attention.
For those I spoke to, they were however quick to point this. President Ruto is not to blame. His speechwriters are ones who bear the burden.
This is the same mistake that the speechwriters of the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta used to make particularly during the tail-end of his administration.
We would have expected those recruited to play the same role in Ruto presidency to learn a lesson from this. However, this is not the case.
One of reasons cited on why Dr Ruto’s speech was too long is failure by his speechwriters to translate and write his verbal comments in a professional manner.
One thing is clear. When a person makes a verbal comment, he or she normally do a lot of emphasis about it and end up repeating it many times.
It follows that even when you go to the next point, you still want to reiterate on what you had already said. So, the speechwriters are required to review the verbal speech and shorten it and, in so doing, ensure nothing misses out. All the issues the President want to address are captured.
Notably, the office of the speechwriter is bankrolled by taxpayers. So, the wish of Kenyans is to see them doing a professional job.
I’m sure many would agree with me on this. President William Ruto is an eloquent and a good public speaker. This perhaps explains the cause of what seems to be laxity and lack of seriousness on part of his speechwriters.
A time has come for them wake up. When a leader speaks verbally, it is wrong to translate word by word when writing the speech. The repetitions ought to be edited out.
In our context, our democracy is majorly anchored on a presidential system of government. The President is therefore the most powerful public figure. He carries their hopes and aspirations.
Strategic communication is one of the key pillars in helping him to discharge his constitutional mandate. The role of the speechwriter cannot therefore be underrated.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and a political commentator based in Nairobi
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