Expert: President Ruto positioning as anti-graft candidate in 2027

Advocate Martin Oloo on Spice FM. (Screengrab)  

President William Ruto’s new stance against corruption has been met with cautious optimism as critics question the sincerity of the strong words in contrast to fewer convictions from numerous graft cases.

Speaking on Spice FM on Tuesday, August 19, political analyst and advocate Martin Oloo opined that President Ruto may be looking to run on an anti-corruption platform in 2027 thus his sentiments were politically motivated.

“This government never campaigned on a promise of zero tolerance to corruption, do they want to make it a theme for 2027? Absolutely Yes,” said Oloo.

“This is one thing that has destroyed their image. So, how to correct that is by fighting both people you know and those imaginary ones, so that you are seen as a champion against corruption.’’

Yesterday, during the first Kenya-Kwanza and ODM joint parliamentary group meeting, President William Ruto and Raila Odinga boldly spoke against corruption including bribery claims involving the members of parliament, earning Odinga jeers from the lawmakers.

The president warned of prosecution of corrupt legislators who he accused of tainting the country’s image, further alleging that Sh10 million exchanged hands within the House in an attempt to sink the anti-money laundering Bill.

“Do you, for example, know that a few members of your committee collected Sh10 million so that you don’t pass that law on anti-money laundering? Did you get the money?” he posed.

Dr. Martin Oloo: We are being told what we know is happening, but the beauty of it is we are being told from State House itself. This is a game of people who know and are very familiar with it, remember, the president himself said he was in parliament for 15 years and DP for 10… pic.twitter.com/9Ef5O9jo9Y — SpiceFM (@SpiceFMKE) August 19, 2025

Speaking on Thursday, 14, at the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay County, Raila said corruption was deeply rooted in all government levels; the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary, even in the private sector.

“Corruption is in all aspects of our lives. It is rampant in the Executive, at the national level, and in counties as well,” Odinga said.

According to the former Prime Minister, revenue collection and procurement were where the most leaks of public funds happened.

Oloo says Odinga was only using war on corruption to reinvent himself, adding that President Ruto should instead use his powers to name and shame corrupt individuals.

‘’We are being told what we know is happening, but the beauty of it is we are being told from the State House itself. This is a game of people who know and are very familiar with it. Remember, the president himself said he was in parliament for 15 years and DP for 10 years, so he knows,’’ said Oloo.