President William Ruto at a past church function in Nairobi.
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Ruto at the helm: It’s my way or the highway
What you need to know:
- Ruto says the universal health coverage (UHC), Housing Levy, selling of State parastatals, as well as sending Kenyans to other countries in labour emigration deals – all stopped by courts – would go on as planned.
President William Ruto yesterday echoed his message that he would push on with legacy-driven plans halted by courts, insisting they are unstoppable and will happen “whatever it takes”.
Dr Ruto said the universal health coverage (UHC), Housing Levy, selling of parastatals valued at Sh200 billion, as well as sending Kenyans to other countries in labour emigration deals – all stopped by courts – would go on as planned.
The resolve has worried experts who see the “unstoppable” stand as dangerous, especially after weighty issues of the effects of the policies were raised.
Political pundit, Gitile Naituli, argues that the President’s actions and pronouncements are signs of autocracy, especially if seen that Dr Ruto is “in open defiance” of court rulings.
“The Executive should obey the law. If there is no democracy, we have a dictatorship,” Prof Naituli told the Saturday Nation.
“The problem is that citizens can decide to recall their power they have given the two. If President Ruto encourages the idea that he can work outside the law, where can that take us?”
He added that the rule by executive fiat is dangerous.
“If the excesses of the Executive are not checked by Parliament and the Judiciary, it can lead to a revolution. It is very difficult to predict the outcome of such a move,” Prof Naituli said.
“Once you start working towards disobeying the law extensively, the public might decide to take the law into their hands.”
He said Kenya has not had a parliament that represents the people for the last 10 years.
“Parliament has represented the interests of the president,” the don said.
Former Mandera senator, Billow Kerrow, said the government should be responsive to Kenyans.
“These are the consequences of a know-it-all administration that wants to tweak every government policy,” Mr Kerrow said, highlighting the failure of coffee reforms, which have ended up hurting farmers even more.
But Mr Arnold Maliba, another analyst, said a dissenting opinion does not mean dictatorship.
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“When the President’s decision has been challenged in court and unfavourable orders issued, he has indicated to re-work and align with court orders,” Mr Maliba said, defending the public participation provision.
“It is not fair to say that the people have given a resounding ‘no’ to the President’s proposal in a public participation. What do you say of those who gave him a resounding ‘yes’ in the election?”
President Ruto’s resolve to push on with his policies despite questions of illegalities and sustained public uproar started with the Finance Act 2023, one of the most debated and analysed laws since independence.
Dr Ruto started his “unstoppable” move with a warning to MPs voting on the bill.
“I am waiting for the MPs who will vote against the plan to give young people their votes,” he said in Narok on June 4.
The High Court has since declared sections of the Finance Act illegal, but allowed the state 45 days to make it regular.
The President’s biggest beef with the courts and Kenyans, it seems, is on the Housing Levy, which was declared unconstitutional.
Arguing that the levy was an idea also fronted by Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition in its manifesto, Dr Ruto said it was insincere of them to reject it.
President William Ruto.
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“I am implementing it this time. I am determined because we must do it. South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia did it,” he said on Wednesday.
“That is why they are ahead of us. We know what we must do, but we cannot gather the courage to do it. Whatever it takes, we must implement it.”
The President yesterday insisted that he would go ahead with the housing plan.
“Affordable housing is a right of ordinary people. Some people have gone to court to stop it and I ask: If you are able to give Sh40,000 in mortgage, why are you stopping my plan to give housing to the ordinary person at Sh3,000? This country is not for the rich alone,” he said in Ngong when launching the Sh1.2 billion Riruta-Ngong commuter railwayline construction.
“It is my responsibility to ensure all are treated equally.”
On UHC, which has also been stopped by courts, President Ruto insisted it is unstoppable.
“We will not accept blackmail. The cartels will not defeat us. We will deal with them ruthlessly. We will not allow them to continue stealing and enriching themselves from the Ministry of Health,” he said in Baringo during the Kimalel Goat auction.
“We will expose them and ensure what we are doing in health will be delivered for the benefit of millions of Kenyans.”
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Justice Chacha Mwita put brakes on the implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund Act on November 27, to replace the current NHIF.
That was after Mr Joseph Enock Aura went to court arguing that it is illegal for the government to deny Kenyans services if one is not registered with the Fund.
Mr Aura further said the digitisation and storage of children’s biometric data (without their consent) would be in breach and violation of their right to privacy, adding that it exposes them to a higher risks of online invasion, trade in and intrusion of their personal digitised information without their say.
The Act makes it mandatory for Kenyans to be members of a new social insurance scheme in order to get government services.
“Imagine someone with a hospital at the corner and conducting operations better than Kenyatta National or Aga Khan Hospitals. It is theft. This is stealing government funds. We will not allow it,” President Ruto said in Baringo.
Dr Ruto has also insisted that he would push ahead with the sale of at least 11 parastatals, including Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenyatta International Convention Centre and Kenya Seed Company.
“We have 350 companies as a government, gobbling billions of shillings every year. Some cannot even tell you what they do exactly. The report on sale of government parastatals has been with us for 10 years,” he said this week.
“Nothing has happened because it is a very difficult decision. I will make the decision and take the consequences. Kenya must move. You cannot go wrong by doing the right thing.”
Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement has gone to court seeking a stop to the sale.
The opposition party said most of the agencies earmarked for sale are of “strategic importance to the people of Kenya” and can only be privatised with the consent of the people through a referendum.
