The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- At one point my opponents nicknamed Zakayo. He was referring to a phrase coined by Hon. Raila Odinga, the leader of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party, at the height of anti-Ruto demonstrations he was leading.
- He likened Ruto to Biblical Zakayo who was a tax collector.
- During the labour Day President Ruto reiterated. I don’t mind being called Zakayo as long as Kenyans pay taxes. Zakayo is just a name.
- At the height of Raila Odinga led demonstrations, I wrote an article in this column. I observed that Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader took the battle against President William Ruto a notch higher when he addressed a rally at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi. He likened him to Zakayo, a tax collector.
Recently, I listened to President William Ruto’s speech as he led the nation to mark this year’s Labour Day.
He minced no word in reiterating the passion and commitment of his government to fulfill pre-election pledges.
We have so far rolled out a number of mega development projects.
The money we spend to do this work comes from your pockets in form of taxes.
The President was right. We know all the governments’ world over do not have money of their own. They rely on three main sources to raise money for development and provision of services that transform the lives of their respective citizenry. These sources are; taxes, loans and grants.
President Ruto while taking cognizant of this fact noted. I had been called all sorts of names.
At one point my opponents nicknamed Zakayo. He was referring to a phrase coined by Hon. Raila Odinga, the leader of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party, at the height of anti-Ruto demonstrations he was leading.
He likened Ruto to Biblical Zakayo who was a tax collector.
During the labour Day President Ruto reiterated. I don’t mind being called Zakayo as long as Kenyans pay taxes. Zakayo is just a name.
At the height of Raila Odinga led demonstrations, I wrote an article in this column. I observed that Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader took the battle against President William Ruto a notch higher when he addressed a rally at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi. He likened him to Zakayo, a tax collector.
For those who have read The Bible, I’m sure they know Zakayo was a short man who climbed on a tree when Jesus was passing by.
This is the only option he had because Jesus was surrounded by a sea of humanity.
While atop a tree, he called the name of Jesus. Jesus listened to him as he confessed his sins and pleaded for forgiveness. The son of God told him. I have forgiven you your sins.
For Raila, Ruto is behaving like Zakayo, the tax collector. We know Zakayo later saw the light but Dr Ruto seems not ready to seek forgiveness, Raila stated.
I totally disagree with Raila. As a born again Christian, I want to say without fear of contradictions that his remarks were totally misleading and amounted to misinterpretation of the Bible.
There is no Verse that bars the government or any other institution and this include the Church from collecting money from citizens.
However, the funds must be used to improve the lives and provide services to the contributors.
It becomes a sin if the funds (taxes) are stolen, mismanaged and wasted.
In the Churches, we call it 10 per cent and tithe.
For Zakayo, the Bible says he was collecting the tax from Churches and Synagogue. This was against the wish of God because he had turned the House of Lord to be a business premise.
Besides, he could not account for the collections.
We know the Azimio leader spent billions of shillings during the campaigns and many believed the outgoing government of President Uhuru Kenyatta was bankrolling him.
How come we did not hear him call Kenyatta a tax collector?
We know that the government does not have money of its own.
It relies on the taxes, foreign grants and loans to provide services to the citizens.
So, if Raila won the election, what miracle could he have performed? None. He could have done the same thing of rallying Kenyans to pay thier taxes.
Former President Mwai Kibaki is remembered for taking this country to great heights of prosperity and development.
When he ascended to power, he used to read same template.
He not only rewarded the tax-compliant Kenyans including those running big companies but he developed the slogan “Kulipa Ushuru, Nikujitegemea”.
Since President Ruto assumed the power, I have not heard his government being associated with any corruption scandal.
So, I would expect Kenyans to buy Raila’s political card that the taxes collected were being stolen and deviated.
This is my unsolicited advise to Raila. He should accept that Ruto won the presidential elections and move on.
The more he continues to make unsubstantiated claims against President Ruto, the more Kenyans believe he is after ‘nusu Mkate’.
Dr Ruto has repeatedly stated that he will not succumb to his machinations.
Raila should stick to his role of the opposition. My government is not hiding anything and it is ready to be checked and corrected.
He should, however, engage us in a structured and constructive criticism.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi
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