Government of national unity good for Kenya, Ruto says

President William Ruto interacts with construction workers at the Matuga Affordable Housing Kwale County after opening the project. [PCS]

President William Ruto has admitted that the protests by the youth that have rocked the country in the past one month are a wake-up call that the days of parochial politics were over.

During his second-day tour of the Coast region, Ruto urged his critics and all Kenyans to embrace his idea of a government of national unity.

Ruto is in the region for a four-day tour which will take him to five of the six counties. On Saturday, he toured Kwale, a day after he visited Mombasa and Kilifi counties.

Today, he will hold a town hall meeting in Mombasa to explain his agenda and why he decided to invite the opposition into his government.

Speaking in Kwale, Ruto implored opposition leaders to embrace his idea of a broad-based government saying “there will be no losers, we will all win.”

“We want unity of all Kenyans,” Ruto said in Kinango.

The President appeared to blame poor communication about his government policies for the uprising against his administration by the youth and other Kenyans.

He said Kenyans had not been sensitised on the benefits of the new higher education funding model, leading to protests against it by students and parents.

Ruto said in the new funding model, allocation to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TEVT) was increased from Sh5 billion to Sh10 billion.

He said that in the allocation, students from vulnerable families who cannot afford fees will get up to 90 per cent scholarship and a loan to complete their studies.

“And I want a proper explanation to parents to know the importance and difference that the new funding model is giving,” said Ruto.

The higher education funding model was one of the issues raised during the protests by the youth, who accused the government of rendering college education out of reach for the poor.

Ruto said no learner will be locked out of TVET training or university because their parents cannot afford fees. On the controversial Social Health Insurance, Ruto said the system will enable those who cannot afford health services to be treated.

“We promised universal healthcare in our manifesto and we intend to fulfill it,” he said.

The president said construction of 400 modern markets was going on across the country.

He said the construction of county aggregation and industrial parks to help farmers reduce post-harvest losses and facilitate value addition was also underway.

“This will enable farmers to add value and store food to enable the country to reduce the Sh5 billion it is using to import food,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Opranya has said he is willing to serve in the government, terming it a patriotic duty.

Oparanya, who was nominated Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs, said he will not resign as the ODM Deputy Party Leader until he sails through the vetting process in Parliament.