Sometimes you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
In President William Ruto's Mashujaa Day speech on Thursday, he bucked the previous trend of speaking in platitudes and itemised multiple practical initiatives to be taken by his government.
Immediately he was criticised for being too 'ambitious' and proposing 'unaffordable' reforms.
But if Ruto had gone the other route and just issued grand-sounding policies, he would have been criticised for not putting his money where his mouth is and not stating exactly what he plans to do.
It was actually refreshing that Ruto said exactly what he wants to do. Whether he achieves it or not, that is a different matter.
His speech rattled through how he plans to implement his election pledges - from irrigation, fertiliser and tree planting to social housing, security and the Hustlers Fund.
One reason that Ruto won the August 9 presidential election was that he was perceived to be more practical and dynamic than his rivals. It is, therefore, naive to expect him to be any different once he is in office - he is behaving as he was predicted to behave.
Quote of the day: "The human race has been telling stories since it began."
Doris Lessing
The novelist from Zimbabwe was born on October 22, 1919
