President William Ruto’s campaign messages were very powerful, lifting him from a place of tight political constriction to gaining a firm grip on the entire discourse.
Even though he started pushing to succeed Uhuru early in the latter’s second term, his messaging, which caused the masses to consider him their potential saviour during a time of an insensitive government, was the game-changer, albeit the election results came out close.
Albeit politicians are politicians, Ruto is different. Upon his inauguration and as subsequent events showed, he is a man keen to identify strongly with the Christian faith with an altar even erected at State House, Nairobi, where mostly Pentecostals attended. In this meeting, the new President asked them to walk around the grounds praying in unknown tongues.
The message of the gospel, particularly the New Testament, is that Jesus came to set the captives free. Ruto’s message of rescuing ‘hustlers’, Mama Mboga, youth and other needier sections of society resonated with Jesus’ message of ‘let the poor say I am rich, and let the weak say I am strong’. Although he has created the Hustler Fund, prevailing economic difficulty is making the country a tough place to be in.
Unlike Jesus, who was referencing a kingdom of God that differs from earthly kingdoms in its spiritual dimension, Ruto’s kingdom is physical and many Kenyans, including many Christians, expect that he will deliver tangible results. He means well, but he must be careful with people in his government who appear to be perennial wheeler dealers just like others we had in the former regime of Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Kingdom of God has its bare minimums that must be observed by practising Christians. Corruption, for one, must be anathema in Ruto’s government. The expose’ about the importation of edible oils that had the country losing billions in tax, if true, must make Ruto incensed if it happened behind his back. Jesus asked us to ‘give Caesar what belongs to him’ which means that we must all pay tax.
Even as the government endeavours to widen the tax net, Kenyans should not continue to witness losses in revenue in crude undertakings as was the case in past governments. Many Kenyans must have believed that Uhuru should have acted firmly to deal with graft rather than discuss it weakly like any other Kenyans. The same expectations are now pegged on Ruto.
Ruto had Dr David Oginde, a Pentecostal bishop, selected as the chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, besides making many other appointments of people from the Church into his government, even in parastatals.
Would it not be a good thing to see the light emerge from these institutions for the Christian faith to gain respect in the country? There is a risk of the masses continuing to lose trust in the faith if people called by it do not deliver in roles the President has given them, or if they do not become the ‘salt’ for positive change in the corridors of power.
Further, the President must not allow action that demonstrates a government lacking empathy for the people. It is critical for government officials to communicate diligently so that the people will understand in simple terms why certain decisions are taken and what that means for the long term.
The President should surely not condone mediocrity and a lack of clarity in policy or strategy. He must also get rid of people who give his government a bad name no matter how much they supported his campaigns. He is president now.
Those responsible for putting the country back to sound economic footing must show the President clarity in their plans and strategies, which should work. Kenyans need tangible hope transferred to them.
The current regime cannot be entirely blamed for the current economic conundrum as there are international factors that are making life in third world countries problematic. The Russia-Ukraine war continues to affect supplies and hence pricing and indeed has led to an increase in inflation in African countries. The China-Taiwan conflict has played its negative role in this as well.
Although these realities cannot be a scapegoat, the people should at least be adequately informed. The vibe coming out of the government appears to be a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude where even the media gets attacked for their obvious role.
The President, though in a catch-22 situation because of political factors, can try and get rid of emerging toxic individuals from his fold, those who will want to act superior and entitled, those who wish to not take responsibility for issues concerning the people, who are overly defensive and cannot apologise for mistakes they make. He must draw a red line and claim his to be a compassionate regime.
Most importantly, it would be good for the government to seek ways of mitigating the economic challenges we face. Interest rates have been rising and are at the highest they have ever been, a global phenomenon that is bad for all sectors of the economy.
Food prices are also very high at the moment, something that has put many Kenyans against the ropes. Economists believe that Inflation could actually last much longer than expected, and that interest rates could remain high for another two to three years.
Even South Africa and Nigeria, who are economic leaders in Africa, have been growing slowly over the last five to 10 years. The majority of African countries are struggling with high inflation and interregional trade amongst African nations is said to be the lowest compared to other regions of the world. China and India are said to be the countries growing at the fastest rate, which has become the new normal for the international economy, strangely.
There continue to be worries for investors as the cost of doing business in African countries continues to rise, being estimated at between 20 and 25 per cent. We sorely need investment and Ruto must put his teams to task to show what exactly they are doing to strategically cushion the country and avoid worse scenarios in the near future.
A manager, the president is capable of making things work and he can do this if he refuses to be beholden to people who are unserious in his teams.
Government parastatals must function effectively to buffer Kenyans from harsh economic conditions. This is the reason why Kenyans should recall the sessional paper no 10 of 1965 which reminds us of the need for human dignity, fighting exploitation and growing equal opportunities, among others.
These things are in line with the gospel of Christ and having Christians at the helm should give us hope for the future.
