National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei has mounted a robust defence of the Kenya Kwanza administration, citing lower maize flour prices, increased agricultural production, revived road projects and millions of patients treated under the Social Health Authority (SHA) as evidence that the government is delivering results.
Speaking on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, Shollei argued that the debate should focus on what the government has done to address national challenges rather than on complaints alone.
“It’s not enough to complain that Kenya has a problem of food security; you must ask yourself what deliberate steps are being taken to deal with the problem,” she said.
Shollei said the government’s fertilizer subsidy programme had helped raise agricultural production and reduce maize imports from about 9.9 million bags to 3.3 million bags by 2025.
She also claimed the price of a two-kilogramme packet of maize flour had fallen from KSh250 when Kenya Kwanza took office to KSh165, which she attributed to the administration’s decision to subsidise production rather than consumption.
On the sugar and tea sectors, the Deputy Speaker said production had increased during the past two years.
“For the first time, we have been able to increase our sugar production, and as at 2025, tea production increased from 535 million kilogrammes to 598 million in two years,” she said.
She added that earnings for smallholder tea farmers had risen from KSh50 to KSh64 per kilogramme.
“These are facts that happened, so if those things had not been done correctly, you would not be seeing the result,” she said.
Shollei also defended the government’s education record, saying enrolment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions had risen from 297,000 students to 700,000.
“We had 297,000 students enrolled in the TVETs, today there is 700,000,” she said.
She said the education budget had increased to KSh728 billion, which she described as the highest allocation since independence, and added that funding for higher education had also been increased.
Turning to infrastructure, Shollei said many road projects had stalled before the current administration took office but had since resumed.
“When the Kenya Kwanza government took over, contractors had left site and roads had stalled, but President Ruto and his team came up with innovative ways of funding road construction, with KSh177 billion paid out to contractors and 6,000 kilometres of stalled roads ongoing,” she said.
She said the government was also investing in housing projects, markets and kiosks to improve working conditions for small-scale traders.
On healthcare, Shollei said 7.5 million Kenyans had already received treatment under SHA.
“Already 7.5 million Kenyans have been attended to under SHA and treated,” she said, arguing that the large number of patients treated demonstrated that the scheme was operational despite concerns over delayed payments to hospitals.
The Deputy Speaker further said seven fish landing sites had been completed while nine more were under construction.
“So yes, there were problems, but something is being done about it, and it is not sufficient to lament about it,” she said.
Shollei’s remarks come as Kenya Kwanza leaders intensify efforts to defend the administration’s economic and social record amid sustained criticism from opposition leaders over the cost of living, healthcare financing and infrastructure spending.
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