How Prezzo Ruto is crafting the State of Kenya in own image

President William Ruto addresses residents after the launch of the Sogoo-Melelo-Ololung'a Road on the second day of his tour of Narok County, May 7, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

In a week punctuated by so much rabsha, from goons' takeover of city streets, to police guns blasting off a hawker's head, Prezzo Bill Ruto appeared surprisingly calm when he arrived in Naivasha to make a pitch for his pet project, the Affordable Housing Programme.

This time, he was not accompanied by a certain mama mboga who Kenyans on Twitter smoked out as a masquerader, because she appeared in his many photo-ops, receiving keys to houses in different localities.

I am not sure if this meant those launches were choreographed charades, or this particular individual was a lucky beneficiary of Prezzo Ruto's magnanimity. In Naivasha, Prezzo singled out a woman by the name of Maureen, a buxom who smiled ear to ear at the news that her house would be ready next March.

"Usikuwe na wasiwasi na mimi," Prezzo Ruto assured gently. It meant, do not be perturbed on my behalf, Prezzo said, because he is equal to the task, as he elaborated. "Mimi- I cannot be distracted. I am a man on a mission to transform this country, and no amount of noise, kelele, fitina, propaganda ita sway mimi from delivering on this agenda."

This switch from English to Kiswahili teases out the various manoeuvres that Prezzo has to make, appealing to the wheelbarrow base that catapulted him to office, but also remaining on point to ensure nothing is lost in translation.

He was assuring that no amount of chatter, malice or propaganda would sway him, before making a declarative conclusion: "I am willing to pay the price, whatever it is, to make sure we transform this country and we house as many Kenyans as possible."

Let's unpack this pithy statement and its implications. I think it's time Kenyans took Prezzo Ruto's word on face value. When he reasserts his commitment to transform this country, we should trust he is telling nothing but the truth.

Start with Affordable Housing, a project that has garnered so many billions of shillings that the government is investing our taxes in government bonds and paying itself interest. Reason? Sirkal has got more money than it can spend, garnered from the punitive taxes that saw Kenyans stream to the streets last year, in protest.

Consequently, Kenyans have nothing to spare and invest in their own ventures, the sort of activity that stimulates the economy and leads to more investments. Unsurprisingly, cement consumption has dipped to levels last seen over 20 years ago, even with the frenzied constructions from Prezzo's government. I suspect Affordable Housing projects use mud, instead of cement.

This economic stagnation is from government own data, so trust Prezzo Ruto when he says he's transforming the nation, backwards. The aforementioned sight of goons patrolling city streets does have some precedence, as political thuggery is as old as this country, but this was the first time in our history that police escorts chaperoned truncheon-wielding goons. That's a huge transformation of our political evolution.

As someone who sees a silver lining to every cloud, I think institutionalised thuggery isn't necessarily bad. See it as disruption. For when gangs overrun the city, we could have our troops redeployed from Haiti to restore order in Nairobi. This, too, is big business, especially if someone else picks the tab.

Internally, the claims that one symbol of State power, something called the Public Seal, was recently transferred from the office of the Attorney General to Head of Public Service, could only mean Prezzo Ruto is remaking the State in his own image.

It's not an entirely bad idea. The carnage in our streets, as police respond using bullets on youngsters demanding to know which direction the nation is headed, when they were promised jobs and prosperity, will not go away today or tomorrow.

That's why Maureen, the woman who was promised a house next March, is rather special. She's got something to look forward to. I'm not sure why Prezzo anticipates that he needs such a long time to make a mud hut, but as the English like to say, to each its own.