By Joseph Lister Nyaringo
President William Ruto, has clocked one year since he took power from retired President Uhuru Kenyatta. His presidency has been compounded with curiosity, interest, regrets, and skepticism at home and abroad.
In the international scene, the Kenyan President is seen as a focused leader whose ideas resonate well for Kenya and Africa, in the 21st Century. The positivity of the United States, European Union, and even Russia towards any leader especially from the developing world is a boon for direct investment, and the tourism sector in that country.
By hosting the global summit on climatic change recently where over 12,000 delegates congregated in Nairobi, Ruto, has shown the capacity to promote intra-Africa linkages with Western powers to enhance trade, investment, education, and technology.
On matters of Kenyan Diaspora, those living abroad are optimistic that the CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Dr. Alfred Mutua, will streamline the Ministry to ensure that the aspirations, and predicaments of the Diaspora are addressed given their immense role in economic development through remittances, direct investment and philanthropy.
The major misgiving to the Ruto administration is its failure to appoint a Diaspora to head the docket held by Dr. Mutua. They are optimistic that President Ruto will consider the Diaspora in the impending ambassadorial appointments by virtue of their experience and exposure to the global scene.
The current government has scored highly on expanding Information Communication Technology (ICT) which is headed by CS Dr. Eliud Owalo. The recent opening of the Open University of Kenya (OUK) by President Ruto, is a silver bullet in technological advancement. Kenya is now in the league of other nations with full-fledged virtual learning. Besides, it will promote Konza technopolis.
The recent visit to Silicon Valley by President Ruto to lure American technology companies to Kenya is a step in the right direction. This will promote Silicon Savannah, which is Kenya’s emerging technology hub.
The consolidation of 5,000 government services to a single-pay bill number is another area the Kenya Kwanza administration has scored highly. This concept will cut costs, reduce fraud, and enhance efficiency, and accountability in government transactions with the general public.
Let us give credit where it’s due. CS Owalo, who is in charge of the Information, Communications, and digital economy docket, has aggressively done a commendable job to digitalize the country. The pilot program in installing free WiFi connections in market centers to benefit the general public is a masterstroke to boost communication as well as enable the youth to access online opportunities free of charge.
Areas of concern
President William Ruto has carried himself with a soft demeanour. He is more versatile. His responses are more measured and statesmanly. Despite talking tough on the fight against graft i.e. sugar cartels, and hitting at the political opposition, Ruto doesn’t sound abrasive like he used to when he was deputy President.
The President’s micro-management style, although a boost towards efficiency in service delivery impairs creativity, openness, and independence in decision-making. Government officials fear giving their all. There is perpetual fear by government officials in initiating policy ideas for improvement. This is because of the fear of contradicting the president.
The President’s deputy, Rigati Gachagua, often portrays the government in a bad light. He evokes an ethnic narrative that reflects him badly before the eyes of the public and the office he holds. By consistently referring to the government as a share-holding company is completely out of step. It’s against the spirit of unity, cohesiveness, and inclusivity. This may sound comical but it paints a negative picture in the eyes of the public who perceive the government as a body serving all Kenyans by providing opportunities based on equality, equity, fairness, professionalism, and meritocracy.
Momanyi Juma, from Minnesota USA, has this to say about Kenya’s deputy President: “How can the second most powerful man in Kenya publicly make perpetual negative pronouncements without the knowledge of his boss? The sum total of such talk will convince people to believe that it’s the President who sanctions what the DP says in public.”
There is growing concern from the political opposition that the Kenya Kwanza government doesn’t respect the separation of powers as a principle of governance. Meddling into the affairs of the Judiciary and legislature by the Executive has been rampant since President Ruto became President.
Currently, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is embroiled in a tussle with a section of legislators elected on the party ticket who are accused of advancing the agenda of the President’s political party-United Democratic Alliance (UDA). The ODM leadership accuses the government of poaching legislators which they argue if not stopped will impair multiparty democracy in the country.
It’s in the public domain that immediately after the current President came to power, numerous cases of individuals who were alleged to have been involved in corruption and other criminal acts were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecution without proper explanation. This has raised a red flag on the government’s commitment to judicial independence.
As the poor economy continues to bite, there is growing concern from Kenyans about wasteful spending by the government on local and foreign trips as well as recurrent government meetings.
There is no reason why we have an able CS for ICT but fail to conduct government meetings virtually to cut costs! The recent meetings held in Kakamega and Sagana State lodges weren’t cost-effective. Even the annual devolution symposium held in Eldoret recently could have accommodated a lean number of delegates but have most county and national government officials attend virtually.
On cohesiveness and inclusivity, the government has scored poorly in the last year. As a multi-ethnic society, we expected government appointments to reflect the face of Kenya.
President Ruto should not sit pretty when a recent dossier by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Acting Commissioner Risper Simiyu, disclosed that more than half of the jobs for service assistants in the tax body went to two communities- that of the President and his deputy. This is against the spirit of fairness and inclusivity and a clear perpetuation of nepotism and cronyism.
As Kenyans grapple with the hard economy and the spike in petroleum prices, we need to begin questioning whether as a country; we have utilized our natural resources effectively to reap maximum benefits.
The Cabinet Secretary of Energy and Petroleum, Salim Mvurya, should come in the open and tell the country what his Ministry is doing about the Oil deposits in Turkana. The last we know is that drilling was going on by the Tullow Oil Company which eventually came to a halt. It must be remembered that countries with Oil resources do not experience higher petroleum prices like the case in Kenya.
State of the economy under Ruto
The Kenyan economy is on a deathbed. The public debt, unemployment, and high inflation continue to grind the country. Kenyans in the low-income bracket are the most pinched.
President Ruto is facing an avalanche of criticism on his tax policies which are viewed as unfriendly to people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. They are gnashing their teeth after the enactment of the Finance Act 2023 pushing VAT for fuel from 8% to 16%.
The funding of higher education is another thorny issue. It’s not well defined as Parents, students, and even educators are in limbo on how to administer the fund to qualifying students.
Graduands are no longer celebrating their graduation since what awaits them is hollow. Nevertheless, Nyayo house is flooded with passport applicants wanting to leave the country as “economic refugees.” The Interior CS, Dr Kithure Kindiki, can attest to this if the stampede for passport applications in Nyayo House is something to go by.
The major lingering question to critics and ardent supporters of President Ruto, is this: Did he exaggerate the promises that he made to Kenyans during the campaigns or he needs more time to streamline things?
Lister Nyaringo, is the President of Kenya Patriotic Movement, a Diaspora lobby based in the US
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