AMINA: Ruto has outshone former presidents

No leader in multiparty Africa bears biblical-like tags of devil and saint at the same time like President William Ruto. He is a devil to the opposition and a saviour to the downtrodden at the bottom of the pyramid.

In only four years in office, the President has outperformed predecessors in service delivery but carries demeaning nicknames coined by the clueless opposition led by no lesser person than his disgraced former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.

Seemingly, Ruto is a departure from the use of geo-ethnic lenses to chart the country’s destiny. He has prioritised peaceful co-existence, horizontal over vertical development around the country.

Exploitative status quo authors are least amused by the performance of a leader who has woken up the proverbial sleeping dogs in the sprawling slum settlements.

None of his predecessors paid attention to the plight of the marginalised, but Ruto, under programmes such as Nyota and Affordable Housing, among others, has attempted to lift the marginalised out of a quagmire they have been stuck in for six decades. In yesteryears, neglect of communities and their villages was the norm rather than the exception.

Two billion shillings in compensation to victims of police cruelty in protests ordered by Ruto surprised even the cacophonous opposition and their ilk. A surprise because none of the lauded previous governments prioritised victims of historical injustices in their programmes.

For instance, the Sh9 billion phased compensation to victims of historical injustices pledged by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to be paid. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) findings and recommendations report on victims gathers dust in the legislature years later.

Pro bono service providers in the villages are smiling all the way to the bank after they were placed on the state payroll in this financial year—courtesy of the son of a peasant from Eldoret.

Treks and boda boda rides to M-Pesa kiosks in market centres by older persons, some too frail or ailing, are things of the past since Ruto assumed office in 2022. Today, the Inua Jamii beneficiaries receive their stipends on phones from the comfort of their sitting rooms.

A Sh22,000 grant for the youth to start income-generating activities is a relief to a segment of the population locked out of credit by lending institutions due to lack of collateral. Similarly, the jobless had a reason to smile when they learnt that the leader is seeking greener pastures for the country’s youth abroad.

The eyesore slum structures and polluted freshwater bodies, a stone's throw from the permanent homes of global specialised agencies, never pricked previous leaders.

If the leaders took the housing of the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) seriously, Nairobi and the country could be a sparkling model on environmental protection, conservation and decent living. Ruto is reciprocating the global honour by cleaning Nairobi rivers and planting 15 billion trees by 2032 in a campaign to mitigate climate change.

Ruto deserves a pat on the back for the foregoing achievements, but the contrary is the case. The political class is too petty, forgetful, vengeful and thankless.

It is time the opposition got down to criticising objectively, comparing and contrasting before evaluating the performance of previous governments, instead of apportioning blame and looking for nicknames for the person in power.

One thing is certain: President Ruto is hated with a passion for paying attention to the downtrodden, often used as voting machines by the ethnocentric political class.

The writer is a freelance journalist and ex-political prisoner