President William Ruto is an ambitious man. He hopes to transform Kenya from a developing country to a developed country. If Singapore did it, Kenya can do it, right? After all, Ruto went from chicken seller to the country’s president. That’s if you buy his rags-to-riches tale.
That aside, his grandiose scheme is obviously unattainable and fanciful. The Kenya Kwanza government is clearly not honest about its development agenda.
Top on Ruto's programme is the so-called affordable housing plan. Ruto claims it is the elixir that will end the scourge of unemployment. With this sensational fib, he creates a sense of urgency.
Ruto’s plan will fail simply because he is not serious about it. He says certain things not as a leader but as a politician. A good politician normally uses bluff and subterfuge. They say what the people want to hear. Ruto is good at mixing facts and opinions. When he speaks, and you listen, he makes you stop thinking and start believing unquestioningly.
In the run-up to the last general election, he used the divide-and-rule method to pit the 'dynasts' against the 'hustlers'. He promised to reclaim wealth from the rich and hand it to the poor. The self-proclaimed Robin Hood is at it again. Now he is using the us-vs-them technique by pitting the employed against the unemployed.
Ostensibly, he plans to take money from those with government jobs to improve the lives of those without. He knows that a united citizenry is difficult to govern. He, therefore, strives to maintain control over his vote-rich 'hustler' base by encouraging dissent between government employees and the rest of Kenyans. I urge citizens not to fall for this ploy. Remember, united we stand, divided we fall.
By now, many Kenyans have realised that politicians are duplicitous. Ruto is a true African politician. He is blessed with the gift of the gab. Apart from being honey-tongued, he is also a master at using psychological persuasion techniques. Since most Kenyans are credulous, they bite the bait every single time.
Someone should tell the President that:
You do not transform Kenya into Singapore by appointing cronies and political henchmen. Prebendalism is not a leader’s game – that is a politician's scheme. How about you appoint technical experts in the respective areas instead?
Political allies who lost elective positions should sit in the village and wait for the next election. Instead, they are given mouthwatering state jobs simply because they supported the President's bid. Some of them are inept while others are ignominious and every time they open their mouths, a slew of unprintable barbs escapes their dirty lips.
Also, Singapore did not tax its citizens to death. Kenyans are getting weary of the 'dilapidated economy' and 'empty coffers' songs. The crooners were part of the same regime they are pointing fingers at. They have been in influential leadership positions since the Moi era.
In fact, Ruto's gusto of squeezing the last coin out of starving Kenyans has earned him the unpalatable moniker 'Zakayo', an allusion to the stringent sinful tax collector from Jericho.
A leader finds constructive solutions while a politician elects to play the blame game. Instead of placing punitive taxes on the tired shoulders of an overburdened taxpayer, and then asking the poor voter to tighten their belt, the government should lead by example in effecting austerity.
If the President fought corruption with the same fervent zeal he used to hype the unloved Finance Act, he would have enough money to run his government and meet his pledges without punishing the naïve 'hustlers' who expected him to make their lives easier – not harder.
Ruto seems indifferent towards curbing the loss of public funds. I find it ludicrous that the President gets to handpick the EACC boss. That is akin to making a goat the guardian of a vegetable patch.
There are some indicators that the President is not enthusiastic about financial restraint. First, public funds are wasted on hospitality at State House. Secondly, the President appointed more cabinet assistant secretaries than the Constitution allows. Lastly, he has stayed mum on the issues of runaway corruption and wastage in government.
If the government is unable to reduce public expenditure, is it fair for its leaders to ask poor Kenyans to be frugal?
Singapore’s journey to first-world status was marked by honesty and efficiency in government. Ruto's Finance Act had 'lies' written all over it. The think tank behind its advocacy must be a fan of Robert Beno Caldini, an American psychologist and academic. Caldini is a great thinker in the field of persuasion and influence.
One technique they borrow from Caldini is the Door-in-The-Face technique. You ask for a big favour and when the individual refuses to yield to your request, you respond by making a much smaller request. The individual feels compelled to help you by accepting the smaller request.
The government asked for three per cent for the housing levy. Kenyans made noise. The government then said, “OK give us 1.5 per cent.” We felt that that was a little better. They are not bad people after all.
The truth is, they wanted the 1.5 per cent all along, but they beguiled us by using the Door-in-the-Face technique. The same ploy is employed in the apparent 'reduction' of the content creators’ withholding tax.
Paying taxes is good since it enables the government to give its citizens good services. But are the state officials honest and efficient? Your guess is as good as mine.
Another ruse used by the government is using religion to hoax ingenuous believers. Titus Lucretius Carus posited rather rightly that: “All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the politician and ridiculous to the philosopher.”
According to Prof Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the UN and as President of the UN Security Council, Singapore achieved success through MPH: That is meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty. Our government falls short on all three pillars.
If Ruto was serious about his Singapore dream, he would have picked the best people for the state jobs and leadership positions, gotten the job done using practical methods that work, and upheld integrity by preventing the loss of public funds through corruption.
Ruto likes to think of himself as Mwai Kibaki, who is arguably Kenya's best president, and Lee Kuan Yu, Singapore’s former leader. The reality is that he is 'mtoto wa maskini' – a wily orator. The paradoxical poor billionaire is a voluble demagogue since his oratory skills are par excellence. However, some of his decisions, so far, leave a lot to be desired.
Although he has been in influential leadership positions for decades, what waits to be seen is whether his admirable eloquence can be turned into transformative leadership.
Teacher and creator of digital literature content
