The Ruto administration rode to power on the promise of a clear roadmap towards economic recovery. So far, the only clear thing we see is the government running around like a headless chicken.
Talking to Dr William Ruto before the elections, one got the impression of an intelligent politician with a firm grasp of issues and an earnest commitment to turning around the economy and improving the lot of Kenyans and the plan on how that would be realised.
One must now wonder if the plan got lost somewhere along the way, or if the promise of the so-called ‘Hustler Movement’ and bottom-up economic policy was no more than hot air.
President Ruto has populated his administration with entire battalions of economic and social policy advisory teams but one does not see anything coherent coming out of all that brainpower. There seems to be little synergy between the backroom fellows producing strategy papers and the cabinet secretaries and politicians on the frontline frothing at the mouth and running helter-skelter, cutting deals all over town.
Roadside pronouncements
Too often, it seems that the right hand does not know what the left is doing; that members of the Cabinet are all over the place making contradictory roadside pronouncements that have no link to specific policy aims; and that a lot of initiatives in so many critical sectors, including trade, energy, agriculture and disinvestment public corporations, are driven by selfish interests.
So much is what is happening points to a confused regime that has no idea where it is going or how to get there, so all it can do is divert our attention with incoherent noises, blaming the previous government for its own projected delivery failures.
Some of the most senior people in government cannot open their mouths without hurling all manner of accusations against opposition leader Raila Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta. They have so much to answer for in terms of undelivered promises on the economy, cost of living, food and fuel process but all they can do is point fingers everywhere but at themselves.
Empty rhetoric will not deliver anything. Neither will threats to arrest or jail Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta.
New set of looters
It is becoming more apparent by the day that all the noise about investigating the so-called ‘state capture’ and ‘cartels’ said to have been thriving under the Kenyatta regime was not so much about justice but creating space for a new set of looters of public coffers.
If the signs we are seeing so far are reliable indicators, corruption under Mr Kenyatta will turn out to be petty thievery when measured against what might be seen under President Ruto.
Grand larceny has always been part of Kenyan leadership. Under Founding President Jomo Kenyatta, in 1963 to 1978, orchards were carefully tended so that the ruling elite could have first pick at the ripe and luscious fruit.
His successor, President Daniel arap Moi (1978 to 2002), had no time to plant and look after trees but simply cut them down to get at the fruit. His slash-and-burn economics left the land bare and desolate.
President Mwai Kibaki (2002 to 2013), came in to restore the orchards and ensure good harvests were enjoyed by all. He rebuilt a broken economy without wasting time pointing fingers backwards at the carnage wrought by Moi’s Nyayo regime. Even though his term was blighted by the Anglo Leasing scandal and the 2007 post-election violence, Kibaki is widely recognised as Kenya’s best president ever.
Then came Uhuru Kenyatta (2013 to 2022) with an obsessive desire to out-do Kibaki and build his own lasting legacy. But ultimately one must wonder if his economics degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts, USA, was rightfully earned.
Infrastructural development
To his credit, President Kenyatta II carried on and expanded the infrastructural development initiated by President Kibaki but at great cost owing to an insatiable appetite for borrowed funds. He also seems to have inherited some bad habits from his father—like the inability to distinguish between public resources and the family enterprise.
Now we have President Ruto, who must make his own mark but is busy looking backwards. The President still has time to make amends. He can start by stopping the advance search for scapegoats and getting on with the job. He needs to crack the whip on clueless leaders in his entourage trying to divert attention from their nakedness by pointing fingers at others.
President Ruto has to decide whether he wants to be a Kibaki or a Moi. And he has to recognise that he is the President of the republic and that the buck stops with him. BY DAILY NATION