President William Ruto chairs a Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi
A fresh wave of panic over the perceived poor performance of some of President William Ruto's critical ministries has gripped Mt Kenya region's elected leaders with ambitions to seek a fresh mandate in the 2027 General Election.
The ministries of Agriculture, Transport, National Treasury, Trade and Industry, Cooperatives, Lands, the suspended National Health Insurance Fund, Water, Health and Interior are among the most critical on the pulse of Mt Kenya region voters.
With coffee debts awaiting the promised waiver, road accidents, stalled industrial parks, controversies surrounding proposed dams, eviction of squatters, lack of titling especially on ranches, delayed compensation for land acquired for government projects and the general cost of doing business are among the hot potatoes for the Ruto regime.
Some of the elected leaders in the Mt Kenya region believe that unless the President takes the initiative to force these ministries to pull up their socks and deliver on their pre-election promises, many area leaders will be sent packing at the polls.
A governor in the region said the biggest scare for first-term county chiefs is the ongoing war on alcoholism coordinated by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
"While the war is noble, the mode of implementation is crude and thoughtless and is breeding contempt against us as licensing authorities through the continued massive closure of bars," the governor said.
Alcohol consumers
The governor said that "thousands of jobs are being lost, bar owners are defaulting on investment loans, and alcohol consumers feel that we are targeting them to punish them".
He added that "those with ambitions to unseat us are everywhere, accusing us of fighting established businesses, and the worst situation is that Gachagua, who is ordering us to cancel the licences, is not seeking a direct mandate from the people."
Among the jobs lost in the war on alcoholism - a war that Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has since dismissed as frivolous - are those of waiters and waitresses, security guards, cleaners, food outlets attached to bars and vendors who depend on open bars for customers.
Those who have direct contact with citizens on the ground in the legislative offices of the Senate, and National and County assemblies say things are tough.
"We are suffering as the ground soldiers of President Ruto's government. We are the ones who are with the people and soaked in all the questions. It is getting harder and harder to clean the blemish of some Cabinet secretaries," said Maragua MP Mary wa Maua.
"We are being asked by the electorate to explain some of the government failures and we are finding it difficult to explain".
She cited the substandard fertiliser scandal which has made many Kenyans unhappy.
"We have also had problems with water connections and some of the presidential appointees are behind the delayed restructuring of service delivery at the grassroots," she added.
Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba said: "As things stand, we have a choice to make - either we continue to lose ground by defending a government that continues to blatantly lie, or we become honest for once and do the right thing".
She said the government had even lied to the core components of its rise to power - Mama Mboga and bodaboda operators.
She said, "Those mandated to deliver the Kenya Kwanza promise are setting the elected leaders against the citizens and it could cost many candidates their chances of re-election.
"We promised people affordable housing but we did not foresee a situation where we would be grabbing land to host the projects...for instance, the government intends to grab the land of the Agikuyu community's Githunguri cultural shrine and build the affordable houses," she said.
Wamuchomba added that "we promised Mt Kenya region one man one shilling one vote and we are mandated to account for progress".
Murang'a Woman Representative Betty Maina said, "We are tired of begging some of these Cabinet secretaries to work...it is as if some do not even understand why they are in office and make our ground tours very difficult as we struggle to defend the government".
She said: "Those who are mandated to make agriculture profitable, government subsidies effective and the general government friendly to the people must either work or be shown the door as soon as possible".
Starehe MP Amos Mwago said, "In Nairobi, we demand that traders be treated with respect...their plight be addressed as promised in the Hustler Nation and bottom-up slogans".
Speaking during the Nairobi Business Community Prayer Day in Nairobi, Mr Mwago said "These people are auditing us and the questions they are asking are dangerously telling that 2027 could be a walk straight into a massacre where many will be sent packing".
Nairobi politician Millicent Omanga said: "We are seeing crude decisions destroying investments on flimsy grounds, some touching on political vendetta and this is working against us as a government".
She said she was a victim of this vendetta "where some of my businesses have been closed down because I have questioned some of the policies coming from our team members in government".
Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu said: "We have made promises to even the most marginalised like the disabled... We are running out of luck and the best we can do now is to start fulfilling the promise. All non-performers must be shown the door".
Speaking on April 11, 2024, at an event to distribute 200 wheelchairs designed as mobile kiosks to the disabled in Murang'a County, Mr Nyutu said: "We cannot compromise the goodwill our people have for the President because one or two appointees are not up to the task.
Mr Nyutu is among several Mt Kenya politicians who recently caused a stir by warning President Ruto not to seek a second term in 2027 with Mr Gachagua as his running mate. They said the President would find it difficult to convince people to vote for him.
The politicians demanded that Mr Gachagua be dropped and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro be installed in his place - a debate the President reportedly intervened in to quell fears of an all-out war between the Gachagua and Nyoro camps.
Fears were expressed that Mr Gachagua's office had failed to live up to its Mt Kenya kingpin billing.
Gatanga MP Edward Muriu has since taken the government to task over the proposed tax on agricultural produce, which he said was generating negative feelings among voters.
"I have since brought to the attention of Mr Gachagua that farmers in Mt Kenya have refused to have their crops taxed. This will cause us a lot of problems when we go back to the electorate to seek a fresh mandate," he said.
The same sentiments were echoed by the region's clergy, who have repeatedly cited the high cost of living, corruption and over-taxation as some of the major causes of discontent among the people.
The President met with them on April 12, 2024, to brainstorm on how best to address the challenges cited by the clergy in a bid to calm the storm that has been brewing directly from the pulpit.
