Ruto’s Speech At Prayers Meeting Demonstrated His Commitment To Improve The Lives Of Hustlers

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Worth Noting:

• Those who have read the Bible would agree with me on this. God blesses the hand of a cheerful giver who helps to uplift the living standard of the poverty-stricken and vulnerable people.
• We know the Millions of ‘hustlers’ in the highly populated slums were confined to this life of squalor. There were no water, toilets, medical facilities, roads and the schools were ill-equiped. These informal settlements were also prone to outbreak of communicable diseases.
• Contrary to the impression created by his critics, the President has been using a persuasive language in calling on those who receive a payslip every month to accept a deduction of three percent from their salaries.

I listened to President William Ruto’s speech during the 20th National Breakfast Prayer Meeting held at Safari Park Hotel.

He once again took this opportunity to drum up support for the Affordable Housing Plan (AHP). We are here to pray and commit our great nation to God.

As per the theme “reconciliation with God and with man’, I want to assure the people of Kenya that I’m fully committed to building a united and peaceful country.

To succeed in this, we need as a nation to address the numerous challenges standing in the way.

Inequality, poverty and indignity were the main cause of this.

This explains why my government has rolled out the programme of  building affordable houses for hundreds and thousands of jobless ‘Hustlers’.

This is a promise I made during the campaign that I will ensure the level of inequality is narrowed down.

Once again, I’m in the right forum to talk about this matter.

Those who have read the Bible would agree with me on this. God blesses the hand of a cheerful giver who helps to uplift the living standard of the poverty-stricken and vulnerable people.

We know the Millions of ‘hustlers’ in the highly populated slums were confined to this life of squalor. There were no water, toilets, medical facilities, roads and the schools were ill-equiped. These informal settlements were also prone to outbreak of communicable diseases.

Contrary to the impression created by his critics, the President has been using a persuasive language in calling on those who receive a payslip every month to accept a deduction of three percent from their salaries.

For me and you, we are lucky because we are employed. So, I urge you not to turn deaf ear to those who live at the bottom of pyramid.

These are our children and daughters.

Those who have read the constitution I’m sure they would agree with me that the right to Shelter is a basic right.

The president is privy to this and so his wish is to see these people living a decent and dignified life.

To me, three percent is not a lot of money. If you earn a monthly salary of Sh100,000, you will only give a contribution of Sh3,000. For those earning Sh30,000, it is Sh300.

It is worth to note the the previous governments of President Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta had mooted similar affordable housing plans (AHPs).

During the latter’s tenure, the government deducted 1.5 per cent from the salary of each employee.

President Uhuru had commissioned the construction of these houses in Ngala area in Nairobi, Kiambu and in other parts of the country but his efforts did not bear much fruits. This is because the project suffered two setbacks; court cases filed by those opposed to the project and lack of funds.

At the time, President William Ruto was his deputy and I’m sure he learnt big lessons. So, many would not expect this project to fail this time round.

One thing is however clear. The Judiciary is an independent arm and so he has no control over it. But even members of the Judiciary are Kenyans. So, one hope they will see the bigger picture. President Ruto means well for millions of hustlers.

Also, it should be noted that the President has no power to pass the 3 percent deductions into law. This power is vested in the hands of members of parliament.

What the President is doing now is to show them the importance of the Finance Bill and lobby them to pass it into law.

The other day Dr Ruto supported the call for MPs to openly vote in support or against it and he stated. I’m waiting to see those who will vote against this Bill. These members will go down as enemies of the people moreso ‘hustlers’.

Besides decent houses, the new law will create millions of jobs for them. One million jobs will be created every year.

It is in light of this that the President stated during the prayer meeting. I pray and hope that God will open the eyes of those who were still opposing housing plan.

At this point, allow me to say this. As an analyst and commentator, I have been listening to the views of a cross section of Kenyans. Majority of them fully support the President. However, they want an assurance from him that the funds will not be looted or misappropriated.

This is while noting the history of our country is replete with cases of mega corruption scandals.

All the successive governments of independent Kenya had been caught up in a web of corruption. This would lead to collapse of mega infrastructural projects or projects abandoned before being completed and turning into white elephant.

President Ruto has since responded to these concerns. I want to assure you that your money will be safe. The housing fund will undertake the purpose in  which it had been established.

I commit to be the guarantor. So, I will be ready to be held responsible. This is regard to audit queries that may be raised.

Let me conclude by saying this. During the campaigns, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party Raila Odinga had pledged to revive the housing plan and roll out mass housing units. He stated the money to build these houses will come from the pockets of the workers.

So, I would have expected him to be the last person to oppose President Ruto’s plan.

But alas! Today he is leading the campaign against this project. Why? It is simply because Dr Ruto defeated him at the ballot. He is yet to accept the loss and move on.

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

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About the Author

Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi

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