Ruto takes fresh swipe at Gideon Moi as he touts 2027 development record

President William Ruto said he has delivered on most of the development agenda he promised Kenyans in the last general election.

The President turned his heat on former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, whom he claimed was making the opposition agenda relevant in the country, without which they would have been forgotten by Kenyans.

“My competitors should be grateful to Moi for helping make them visible in the Kenyan space through propaganda, otherwise, they would be nowhere. They would not feature in Kenya’s politics today,” Dr Ruto said at Kapsoit in Kericho County.

A fallout between the Mois and Dr Ruto has caused political jitters in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) backyard in the Rift Valley region.

It comes a year after Dr Ruto and Mr Moi made a political truce that was expected to have Kanu and UDA parties work together ahead of the next general election, but they fell out without clear reasons.

While Dr Ruto has repeatedly politically hit out at Mr Moi, the former senator has kept quiet and declined, even under public pressure, to respond to the President.

In a third of the four-day tour of the South Rift region, the President said in Kericho and Bomet counties that voters will judge him and his administration on the basis of the development agenda which he has rolled out.

Some of the projects and the agenda have been delivered, others are under implementation, while some have not been rolled out yet.

He said that he had delivered on his promise to the people, who will judge him in the 2027 General Election on the basis of delivery of the agenda, which he claimed to have implemented so far.

“To the great people of Kenya, today, without fear of any contradiction, we decided in 2022 that the politics of our nation is not going to be about personalities but issues. That it would not be about insults and slogans, insults or hate, but a plan, agenda and programme for the transformation of the nation,” Dr Ruto said.

He said: “We agreed that going forward we have to have visionary leadership that is going to take the country forward, not people who will drive the country using the rear-view mirror to take the country to the Stone Age.”

“I am ready to be held to account for the commitment I made to the people of Kenya on the economy, agriculture, health, education, among others,” he stated.

The President said his administration was the first to make a commitment to the people of Kenya and worked hard and courageously to implement it to the benefit of Kenyans.

“I want to challenge my competitors — look at our manifesto, our plan — the people of Kenya will judge us on account of the commitment we made,” Dr Ruto stated.

He stated that 680,000 people have accessed jobs in foreign countries with the intervention of his administration, and another 300,000 were engaged in various jobs in the digital space.

Dr Ruto stated: “We have stabilised the economy, reduced inflation, reduced the cost of fertilisers, and removed cartels. Sugar, tea, dairy and maize farmers are earning more due to the reforms.”

“Education has changed — streamlined CBC, teacher training, hired more teachers and changed the higher education funding model, while 21 million youths are employed,” he said.

He said: “We will change the economic narrative of this country, eradicate hatred and tribalism so as to ensure the country moves forward in development to the benefit of the people.”

He repeated his claims that the opposition would not be a match for him in the next general election, saying the majority of Kenyans will back him for a second term in office.

In Kericho, he flagged off rural electrification material from the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) for 16,000 new households.

President Ruto said 600 acres of land had been set aside for the expansion of Kericho town so as to create employment opportunities and attract investments.

“The first 5,000 Affordable Housing Units in Kenya will be constructed in Chelimo of Kericho town, where we are building a modern town that will progressively be elevated to a city,” Dr Ruto said.

He revealed that Sh1 billion would be used to construct roads in the new town site, a Sh8 billion referral hospital would be constructed, while a medical school for the University of Kabianga would be constructed at the Kericho Teachers Training College.

The President was in the company of Senate Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Governors Professor Hillary Barchok (Bomet) and Dr Erick Mutai (Kericho), and local Members of Parliament.

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