President Ruto: My promises to Kenyans

In his inaugural speech as Kenya’s fifth President, Ruto moved to appease the ‘hustlers’ — the struggling Kenyans whose vote helped him ascend to power.

Ruto also moved to undo some of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy projects, staying true to his pre-election pledges that critics had branded populist.

He promised to revert clearing and other operations to the Port of Mombasa; reduce the cost of living while limiting or reducing subsidies; appoint six judges former President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected; make the Police Service financially independent and roll out an affordable housing programme aiming at 250,000 units per year.  

Speaking at packed 60,000-seat  Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Ruto said some 1.4 million bags of fertiliser have been availed to retail at Sh3,500 per 50kg bag from next week.

This will be a Sh3,000 reduction from the current Sh6,500, which the President attributed to low production, thus, the high cost of unga. “The forecast for the maize harvest this year is below 30 million bags against the normal 40 million bags. The main cause of the decline in production is the high cost of inputs,” he said.

The President declared his administration will provide quality seeds and make affordable and available other inputs to enhance food production and reduce the cost of living.

Ruto also announced his administration has engaged the Kenya Tea Development Authority to supply farmers a 50kg bag of fertiliser at Sh3,500, down from the current Sh6,500.

“This is our initial intervention. We will be doing more for the medium term and long term,” Ruto promised.

The inauguration was attended by 18 heads of state and governments, numerous dignitaries and thousands of jubilant Kenyans.

Ruto did not announce an immediate reduction in the price of unga — the biggest concern for many Kenyans — as he had promised during a prayer event in Meru on Sunday.

A 2kg packet of unga retails at an average of Sh200 after the government removed its subsidy of the essential commodity.

Ruto said the unga subsidy programme is unsustainable and prone to abuse by those overseeing it.

“In addition to being very costly, consumption subsidy interventions are prone to abuse, they distort markets and create uncertainty, including artificial shortages of the very products being subsidised,” he said.

“On the fuel subsidy alone, taxpayers have spent Sh144 billion, including Sh60 billion four months,” he said

“If the [fuel] subsidy continues to the end of the financial year, it will cost the taxpayer Sh280 billion, equivalent to the entire national government development budget,” President Ruto said.

The regulator, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority is expected to announce new fuel prices on Wednesday at midnight, effective on Thursday.

Without the subsidy, it is predicted a litre of petrol or diesel will exceed Sh200 after midnight.

The President’s administration has already started mobilising resources to prevent a deepening crisis in 20 counties ravaged by drought and famine.

Most counties are in Northeastern. Ruto’s government will provide relief food and unlock the economic potential of the rangelands.

In line with his ‘hustler’ manifesto, Ruto announced he will implement the Hustler Fund and create a Cooperatives and SME Development Ministry to nurture and grow businesses.

“Our immediate agenda is to create a favourable business and enterprise environment, decriminalise livelihoods and support people in the informal sector to organise themselves into stable, viable, and creditworthy business entities,” Ruto said.

The new head of state promised to revamp the Credit Reference Bureau and introduce a new system of credit  rating. This contrasts with the current “arbitrary punitive” blacklisting denying credit to many Kenyans, he said.

Ruto disclosed he has engaged the CBK to ease the burden on traders engaged in transactions exceeding Sh1 million.

The President said he would immediately order all port services, including clearance of cargo, be reverted to Mombasa to improve the economy of the Coast.

“This afternoon, I will be issuing instructions for clearing all goods and other attendant operational issues to revert to the Port of Mombasa, he said.

The move will restore thousands of jobs in the city of Mombasa, he said.

During campaigns, Ruto fiercely attacked his boss, then President Uhuru Kenyatta, for shifting port operations to Nairobi and Naivasha. He promised he would revert them.

To create jobs for millions of jobless youths, the President said he will roll out a housing programme to construct 250,000 units per year.

“We will engage TVET institutions to provide necessary skills to enable the jua kali industry to supply standardised products for our housing programme.

“We will leverage on our competitive advantage in leather and textiles to roll out our labour-intensive agro-processing industrialisation programme,” the President said.

Construction will be labour-intensive to ensure jobs for as many young people as possible.

On Education, Ruto said that he would immediately appoint an Education Taskforce in the Office of the President to collect views on the controversial Competency-based Curriculum.

He promised parents his administration will find a solution to concerns about CBC before transition of the first cohort of students to junior secondary school in January next year.

“We are particularly alive to the anxieties of parents on the twin transitions of the last 8-4-4 class and the first CBC class in January next year. I assure you there will be a solution before then,” he said.

On Devolution, the new head of state said his administration will restore to counties all the devolved functions that are still being performed by the national government, and their accompanying resources.

The President also spoke about the continuing delays by the Treasury to release funds to counties, promising his administration will ensure timely disbursements.

On the Judiciary, the President said he would immediately appoint the six judges of the Court of Appeal who had been rejected by his predecessor. Kenyatta rejected them more than three years after they were nominated by the Judicial Service Commission.

He had declined to appoint them, despite the law and intense pressure from the legal fraternity and the Senate.

“I shall preside over their swearing-in so they can get on with the business of serving the people,” Ruto said.

He said he will increase the Judiciary’s budget by Sh3 billion annually and establish High Courts in the remaining seven counties and magistrates courts in 123 subcounties.

Concerning police reforms, Ruto gave financial autonomy to the National Police Service to end its dependence on the Office of the President, thus undermining its independence and operations.

“As I address you, I have instructed the instrument conferring financial autonomy to the National Police Service — by transferring their budget from the Office of the President and designating the IG as the accounting officer — be placed on my table for signature,” the President said.

Financial independence, he said, will give police impetus to fight corruption and end political weaponisation of the criminal justice system.

Ruto committed to increasing the morale of the public service by ending the culture of intimidation of public servants.

He pledged his administration will respect their professional service and that no public servant, even chiefs and their assistants, will be required to run political errands for any political party or formation.

Ruto promised to give priority to the payment of pending bills, currently Sh60 billion.

“This situation must be corrected. I am aware many individuals, families and their companies have been driven to ruin and forced to shut down, over unpaid government bills,” he said.

The Kenya Kwanza administration, Ruto said, will massively expand the tax brackets to generate more revenue for the government to avoid overdependence on debt.

“We will make KRA more professional, efficient, responsive, and people-friendly,” the president pledged.

Ruto said his administration will properly fund oversight institutions — the office of the Auditor General and Controller of the Budget — to enable them to perform their mandates properly.

He said he will engage Parliament to fast-track legislation on the elusive two-thirds gender rule.

The President said he will establish a Diaspora ministry and champion integration of the East African region.

(Edited by V. Graham)