Corruption, unemployment, broken pledges, abductions sunk Ruto ship

President William Ruto. [File, Standard]

In the last three weeks, President William Ruto has been scrambling to address all that is wrong within his administration.

Since his protest-induced decision to reject the Finance Bill 2024, the Head of State has implemented a raft of policy and administrative changes - in quick succession - in a bid to endear himself to an irate Kenyan public.

Besieged, Ruto has instituted top-down austerity measures, petitioned Parliament for the reduction of Sh177 billion in the budget spending, increased the country’s debt by Sh169 billion, scrapped 47 loss-making State corporations, signed the IEBC (Amendment) Bill 2024 into law and dissolved his entire Cabinet, save for one minister, Musalia Mudavadi, of the Foreign Affairs docket who is also the Prime CS.

On Friday, he also announced a major shakeup in the leadership of the country’s security agencies.

Inspector General of the National Police Service Japheth Koome resigned and Ruto replaced him with his deputy, Douglas Kanja, who will serve in an acting capacity.

In the Prisons Service, Patrick Mwiti Arandu took over as the new Commissioner General, succeeding Brigadier (Rtd) John Warioba, who proceeded on terminal leave pending the end of his tenure.

Yesterday, during the commissioning of Kipsoen Technical and Vocational College, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Ruto said: “This is our country and I have made the decision that going forward, we are going to work as Kenyans. All of us on the same side making sure we harness every opportunity, and every talent to make sure we build our economy.”

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“We create jobs, we manage our debts, we deal firmly and decisively with corruption and make sure Kenya matches forward because Kenya is a country of great potential and we must work together to close ranks from across political divides and regional divides; Kenyans working together for the best interest of the Republic of Kenya,” the President said.

Ruto’s remarks were in line with his new-found resolve to adopt a ‘broad-based government’ -birthed by talks - to help him lift the country from the political, moral and economic abyss.

But how did it get to this point?

From the onset, Kenya Kwanza Alliance’s ascent to the reins of power has been riddled with indignities and after 20 months at the helm, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong; corruption scandals, increased borrowing, murders, abductions, divisions in the Executive, unemployment, and a collapse of the education and healthcare systems.

Barely months into office, President Ruto would in mid-2023 be confronted by his administration’s first mega scandal in the Health sector. It came in the form of a botched Sh3.7 billion mosquito net tender.

Ruto had no option but to sack Health PS Josephine Mburu, and suspend Kemsa chief executive, Terry Ramadhan. The two were implicated in the scandal.

Around the same time, supremacy battles at the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) exposed the payment of millions of shillings from the fund to hospitals across the country through fictitious claims. Heads rolled.

But as the President sifted through the rabble from the scandals to streamline operations at the two institutions, revelations of more than 14,000 bags of condemned sugar were made.

Government Chemist

After analysis by the Government Chemist, traces of mercury, copper, mould and yeast were found. Interestingly, the sugar would later disappear making its way into the Kenyan market.

Months later, the Sh17 billion edible oil scandal rocked the country. It emerged that the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) had single-sourced companies contracted to bring into the country a multi-billion edible oil cargo that was unfit for human consumption.

The Senate would later initiate a probe into the 12,500 tons of edible oils imported but failed to locate the consignment that was intended to alleviate the plight of Kenyans.

Later, opposition leader Raila Odinga would expose to the country that senior officers in the Ministry of Energy were engaged in the abuse of office after they allegedly used Sh17 billion from the consolidated fund to purchase fuel through agents and took home the profit generated from the local retail market.

And earlier this year, Kenya Kwanza yet again courted controversy after 50,000 bags of fake fertilizer found their way into the market.

The scandal, preceded by a shortage of the commodity, saw farmers who queued at NCPB stores for days swindled out of their hard-earned money.

After protracted double speak from the government on the exact amount of fertilizer that was fake, a few arrests were made, a company temporarily shut down and NCPB boss Joseph Kimote was suspended.

But that is not all.

In the wake of anti-tax protests that have rocked the country in the last month, the government’s response has been synonymous with extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, abductions, torture and violations of human rights.

According to reports by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHCR), more than 40 Kenyans have been killed by the police.

“We are retrogressing into the dark abyss of violations and atrocities. The commission condemns these violations (by the police) in a country that prides itself in its democracy and rule of law,” read a statement by the commission.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) also confirmed that there have been abductions, and disappearances in the country, during the recent protests against the Finance Bill.

IPOA chairperson Anne Makori, in a statement on Friday, promised to take action.

She confirmed to have received 10 complaints of abductions but regretted that the authority could not reach a majority of complainants.

“Out of the 10 complaints we received, eight of the victims were found alive with allegations of harassment and torture, however, we have been unable to access the rest,” said Makori.

“We request victims and any other relevant eyewitnesses to come forward and record statements to facilitate speedy investigations of these allegations,” she added.

Further, mismanagement and underfunding of the Education sector have also stalled major education reforms.

A spot-check by The Sunday Standard has revealed that a year since the launch of President Ruto’s reforms in the education sector, the plan to enhance funding for primary and secondary schools has not taken off.

The reforms are contained in a report by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER) taskforce that was handed over to Dr Ruto on August 2, 2023.

The President had directed the immediate implementation of some of the recommendations.

However, questions now surround the delays facing the ambitious plan to review funding in schools with stakeholders decrying continued struggle with under-funding.

“The recommendation to increase funding to schools should have been implemented. It is long overdue, just like the changes in university funding, this should have been given prominence as well,” Collins Oyuu, the Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary-general told The Sunday Standard.

Kenyans are now waiting with bated breath to see if Ruto’s hurtling and seeking refuge in the opposition will put the country back on the beaten path of success and prosperity.