William Ruto 100-day priority list to inform agenda as he addresses Parliament

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

"Agriculture remains the backbone of Kenya's economic and industrial development particularly in food production, income generation and provision of raw materials for manufacturing," said Gachagua.

Gender rule

President Ruto also pledged to ensure half of his Cabinet was comprised of women and would equally implement the elusive two-thirds gender rule for elected and appointive officials.

However, he failed to hounour this election pledge when he named his Cabinet on Tuesday where only seven women were nominated as Cabinet Secretaries.

It will be interesting to see how he achieves the two-thirds gender rule in Parliament. In the 2022 General Election, 29 women were elected as members of the National Assembly up from 23 in 2017 while seven women Deputy Governors and three women Senators were also elected.

"We will work with Parliament to fast-track various legislative proposals and establish a framework that will resolve this matter expeditiously. The participation of women in governance does not make us lesser; it makes us greater. And their role can no longer be nominal; it has to be substantive," said Ruto a fortnight ago.

Moreover, the President's pledge that Cabinet ministers in his government will physically appear in Parliament for grilling will require MPs to amend standing orders to allow for the same.

Former National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi said that Standing Order number 253, which deals with the admission of "strangers" to Parliament, needed to be amended to allow CSs to attend plenary sittings and provide information of public interest.

Former National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

"It is possible to have Cabinet Secretaries appear for grilling in Parliament. All that needs to be done is to tinker with the Standing Orders to ensure that when they are summoned by Parliament, they are not considered strangers," said Muturi.

'State capture'

Another priority for President Ruto is dealing with corruption and putting to an end what he has repeatedly called State capture.

The Head of State allocated his deputy Gachagua seven responsibilities. He has previously explained that this would avert a situation where the DP is sidelined as he was in the second term of President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration. Ruto also honoured his deal with the Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi, nominating him as Prime Cabinet Secretary

The president further committed to improving the sports docket within the first 100 days by establishing an expert task force to identify sustainable sources of sports funding.

The force will also establish and resource adequately a dedicated function within the tourism promotion function to attract international sporting events, and leverage our international athletics brand to develop a domestic sports apparel manufacturing cluster.

Ruto further vowed to expand the National Youth Talent Academy, promote county leagues and inter-county sports championships and establish a sporting hero benevolent fund.