Hold me accountable, question my decisions, Ruto says

President William Ruto in Mageta island, Siaya County where he launched a Sh232.5 million solar power project. [Isaiah Gwengi, Standard]

President William Ruto on Thursday said he is not afraid of being held accountable for decisions he makes.

He also said he does not have an issue if the manner he is running the government is questioned.

"I want to assure all the stakeholders here that the Government of Kenya that I run, will continue to be open. I have absolutely no qualms in being held to account,” said Ruto.

Ruto said he has no problem being held accountable and reiterated his commitment to lead an open government.

“I encourage civil society to continue telling us the things that we are doing wrong so that we can correct. And occasionally when we get things right, they tell us to do better or more so that we can forge a collaboration that makes Kenya great or better for all of us," he said.

Ruto spoke in Nairobi on Thursday morning while presiding over the launch of the fifth National Action Plan(NAP5) 2023-2027.

Engaging the Open Government Partnership Board Member, Aidan Eyakuze, Ruto said the plan is supported by UK International Development, Ford Foundation and Mzalendo.

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The OGP was established in 2011 and Kenya joined in 2012. So far, it has a membership of 75 countries.

It is a multilateral initiative aimed at securing commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, combat corruption, and improve governance

The NAP5, which is a joint initiative of civil society, government, private sector and diplomatic community, follows NAP4 and has nine commitments.

They include climate action, digital governance, open data for development, beneficial ownership transparency.

Others are open contracting, public participation, legislative and fiscal openness, access to information, access to justice and finally building open government resiliency.

Speaking at the event, Ruto said open government enhances transparency, accountability and empowers citizens to be able to make decisions.

He admitted that there is a physical, demonstrable real trust gap between citizens and government across the globe.

To evaluate on how to close the trust gap, Ruto welcomed Kenyans, representatives from the international community for a first trust summit in Nairobi early next year.

“Because unless we do that, it becomes hard for the government to implement its plan and for citizens to hold the government to account,” he said.

The open government that is open to accountability meeting comes when the government has been blamed for engaging in secret deals such as the 30-year lease of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport(JKIA) refurbishment by Adani Group.

The issue, which has raised public outcry and protests saw Kenya Airport Workers Union(KAWU) go on strike, affecting air travel and export business in major airports across the country.

The workers blamed the government for not being open about the Adani Group deal, saying it will cause loss of their jobs among other benefits.