'I decide who comes to State House, and who doesn't,' says Ruto

President William Ruto at State House. [PCS]

President William Ruto has defended his decision to open State House, Nairobi, to a wide range of visitors for meetings and other functions.

Ruto now says his approach is meant to elevate ordinary Kenyans by inviting them to the house on the hill, despite criticism that the venue should be reserved for diplomats and senior leaders.

Quoting the Bible during an event on Friday, September 19, Ruto said State House is a home for all Kenyans.

“We have many complaining that I’ve opened State House doors to everyone, that it should only be for diplomats and key leaders. But they don’t understand the Bible,” he said.

“They don’t know the meaning of bottom-up, which is about uplifting those at the bottom. Kenya is changing, and we are all equal,” he added.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale also defended the move saying, “I have been coming to State House since the time of former presidents Kibaki and Uhuru, and I have never seen such large numbers here before. It now hosts Kenyans of all walks of life,” he said.

“Mr President, many are fighting you for this decision, but you were not elected by the rich alone. Even these people voted for you, and this is a house for all,” Duale added.

Ruto’s remarks come amid mounting criticism that the frequent gatherings at State House are part of an early campaign strategy for the 2027 election.

On Saturday last week, the president hosted 10,000 teachers at State House. Each reportedly left with Sh10, 000, as chants of ‘two tam’ echoed through the crowd.

Former Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary-General Wilson Sossion defended the meeting in an interview with KTN, dismissing claims it was politically driven. “State House is the people’s institution, and citizens are free to engage the Head of State on key national issues. It has never happened that teachers had such a high-level policy meeting with the president,” Sossion said.

“In my view, this stems from what the president did in 2022 when he negotiated and signed a charter with education stakeholders,” he added.

But others sharply disagreed.

Advocate Willis Otieno, who is also Safina Party deputy leader, dismissed the event as political theatre.

He accused the government of mistreating teachers who had to wait for hours without food before receiving the Sh10, 000 handouts.

“How do you invite teachers to State House, keep them waiting the whole day, some overnight without a meal, only to hand them Sh10,000? Yet, you are not paying attention to the issue of what we are doing to improve our education system,” opined Otieno.