- Deputy President William Ruto's 2022 campaign pledges mirror the 2013 and 2017 unfulfilled promises.
- In the 2013 and 2017 presidential campaigns, he aggressively fired up the Jubilee vote-hunt campaigns with key policy pledges that included promises of millions of jobs annually for the youth.
Image: DPPS
On February 19, 2013, Deputy President William Ruto made a passionate case why Kenyans needed to give the Jubilee Coalition a chance to lead Kenya.
Donned in a white shirt, yellow necktie —his United Republican Party (URP) colours — and a light blue suit, Ruto told a packed auditorium at Kasarani that he and President Uhuru Kenyatta would “change Kenya forever”.
“Youth empowerment would become the fuel to drive the Jubilee Coalition agenda in our country… 92 per cent of young people who have no jobs have no skills. A Jubilee government will set up an institute of technology in every ward in this country,” Ruto promised the nation.
In the 2017 presidential campaigns, the DP again aggressively fired up the Jubilee vote-hunt campaigns with key policy pledges that included promises for creating 1.5 million jobs annually and double digit economic growth.
“We are focused on creating millions of jobs for our unemployed youth; we are focused on increasing and creating wealth so that we have more to share,” he said on May 6.
Eight years since Jubilee rode to power, Ruto is again making youth empowerment the centre of his campaign for the presidency in 2022.
On Sunday, political analyst and university don Augustine Nyamboga said the DP could find himself in a political fix to convince Kenyans why he has not implemented what he promised.
"It could have been better if the DP used government and state machinery to empower the youth and women. His tokenism would come back to haunt him," he told the Star.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa had a different view, asserting that the DP has been denied space in government after opposition chief Raila Odinga’s handshake with Uhuru.
"The priority of the Handshake was to suffocate the DP's space in the government and thus make his ideas unimplementable. His dream to empower Kenyans cannot be stopped by selfish politicians who don't want to share what they have," he said.
On Saturday, Ruto admitted that 16 million Kenyans, majority of them below 35 years, are jobless.
“Forget the sterile 'employment-creation blah!blah!blah!' rhetoric that has been sung since independence.
"Are you telling us the creation of five lofty positions for the mighty by BBI is more urgent than the implementation of the housing programme that would create 2.5 million jobs for ordinary Kenyans? ”Ruto asked in what appeared as a jibe at Raila.
The Jubilee manifesto had promised an economic revolution that would get youths jobs, expand the economy by double digits and directly put money into people’s pockets.
Raila allies say Ruto's new campaign strategy is meant to undermine President Kenyatta.
“The DP needs to resign and criticise the government from outside. He is the biggest hurdle to the President realising his agenda,” Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga said.
Being the country's second in command, the DP is better placed to implement projects that would empower the youth and women through government funded programmes.
However, this is not the case as Ruto appears to be pursuing his own mission.
The DP has rolled out a multibillion-shilling kitty to empower the youth, women and the vulnerable, breaking away from the formal government structures as he ramps up his 2022 campaigns.
On Sunday, University of Nairobi don Herman Manyora warned that Ruto's empowerment plan is not sustainable as it is hinged on what he called as handouts.
“You cannot build a country through handouts to the unemployed youth. Job creation needs elaborate government policies and not handouts… Ruto is not campaigning on any policy, he us just exciting people with handouts,” Manyora told the Star.
However, he warned the practice could create the impression that the DP is very generous and that could make him run away with many votes in 2022 if the opponents have no strategy on how to counter it.
Raila, the presumed main Ruto 2022 opponent, accuses the DP of perpetuating politics of bribery and handouts disguised as donations and empowerment projects.
“What he (Ruto) is engaging in is not a solution to address youth employment in the country, but encouraging youths to depend on handouts. Why are we not seeing this money going through government programmes?” Raila asked when he met party official in Kisumu last week.
On Saturday, he gave the clearest indication yet that he will take on Ruto in 2022 after a top ODM organ gave him the nod to prepare for a presidential stab in 2022
"In the months ahead, we are going into a confrontation with the beneficiaries of proceeds of corruption who are arraigned against our agenda for a radical socio-economic transformation, job creation and equitable distribution of prosperity," he told the NEC members.
This veiled attack on Ruto prompted the DP to fire social media salvos at Raila, terming the opposition leader “the lord of poverty."
Ruto has lately adopted the approach of offering youth light equipment like car wash machines, sewing machines, tanks, motorcycles and wheelbarrows in a charm offensive against Raila.
With what he has called an unstoppable political movement, the DP is deliberately shaping the 2022 presidential duel as a battle of the poor against the rich.
He has spiritedly opposed the Building Bridges Initiative propelled by Uhuru and Raila, saying it is aimed at creating a few jobs for the political elite at the expense of jobless Kenyans.
“We want a discourse on real jobs for millions of Kenyans not four or five positions for tribal chiefs. Jobs for ordinary citizens. How many jobs? in which sectors? and when? is very urgent,” Ruto tore into his critics in a stinging tweet.
According to him, there is a need to flip the country's political conversation into discussions about creating jobs and empowering Kenyans as opposed to talks about BBI positions.
“These hustlers are not thieves; they are not stupid; they are not lazy. They deserve opportunity, support, encouragement and inspiration, which they lack,” he said.
The DP warned against politicians he termed ethnic chieftains with no respect for rule of law or democratic election outcomes but a complete track record of chaos and anarchy.
“Tribe has been hijacked by tribal lords/chiefs to benefit themselves and their families to the detriment of hustlers and their children.
"And enough is enough. The hustlers, as a minimum, want a new conversation. Not about anyone's tribe but about the hustles of each one of us,” Ruto said.
- mwaniki fm