President Ruto: I am ready for talks with CJ Koome on graft in judiciary
President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the launch of the Emgwen affordable housing project in Kapsabet town, Nandi County on January 16, 2024.
President William Ruto is ready for talks with the leaderships of the judiciary and legislature to address graft, vested interests and what he calls sabotage of his administration's programmes.
President Ruto said on Tuesday that as the head of the executive, he was ready to take the lead, noting that the proposed talks should involve Chief Justice Martha Koome (judiciary arm) and the speakers of the National Assembly and Senate (legislature arm) on how to tackle corruption and vested interests.
“Yesterday (Monday), the Chief Justice called for talks and I want to say that I welcome the talks. On January 2, I committed that we needed a conversation on how to deal with corruption. We will not accept a monster of graft to sabotage government programmes just because of laxity of some state officers or saboteurs who don’t want us to change this country,” the President said on Tuesday in Tinderet Sub-county, Nandi County.
“I said early this year that this is the year that we will firmly deal with graft in our country. I want to tell the CJ that I am ready for talks that will bring together the leadership of the legislature, executive, and judiciary. I am ready for talks on how to deal with vested interests, incompetence, and especially corruption in any arm of government because it is derailing and sabotaging the progress and the potential of our country.”
On Monday, Chief Justice Martha Koome called for a meeting with the head of state to discuss issues that the executive raised about graft in the judiciary.
President Ruto and other Kenya Kwanza leaders have on several occasions accused some unnamed people of using "corrupt judges" to stall programmes initiated by his administration, including the health and affordable housing projects.
On Tuesday, the head of state, who has been spending a lot of time in his Rift Valley backyard since the beginning of the year, said that some unnamed "corrupt" individuals were rushing to courts to obtain orders to prevent them from being charged for crimes they had committed.
Maintain status quo
“We want to deal with those who want to maintain the status quo in the housing programme; [those] who don’t want to make it possible for every Kenyan to get affordable health care or mama mboga and boda boda to own a house; and [those who want] to hold the system hostage by bribing judicial officers and hiring expensive lawyers. We are going to have this conversation and if the judiciary is ready, then I am also ready and I am confident that the legislature is also ready to talk,” the president said.
Dr Ruto, who launched several projects during his visit to Nandi, said he was determined to ensure the implementation of Universal Health Coverage to reduce the cost of health care, especially for vulnerable households, and to prevent people from selling their properties to raise funds for medical treatment.
The head of state was accompanied by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Nandi Governor Stephen Sang, Senators Samson Cherargei (Nandi) and Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu) and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah. Nandi Woman Representative Cynthia Muge and MPs Paul Biego (Chesumei MP), Julius Melly (Tinderet), Marianne Kitany (Aldai), Abraham Kirwa (Mosop), Josses Lelmengit (Emgwen), Bernard Kitur (Nandi Hills) also accompanied Ruto.
Ichung’wah, the Kikuyu MP, also urged the Chief Justice to fast-track graft cases involving judicial officers, even as he hit out at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for defending "corrupt judges instead of hearing complaints against them".
“Our Chief Justice informed the public that they have dealt with 13 out of the 72 cases against judges and asked us to take more cases. We want to ask her to expedite [the remaining] cases first before we can file more complaints,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president revealed that the recruitment of 2,000 new tutors for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions will begin next week and they will be expected to report to their respective TVET institutions within 90 days to assist in skills development.
“The government will continue investing more resources to support the development of technical skills for our youth. I want to appeal to parents to allow their children, especially the Form Four leavers, to join TVETs and later national polytechnics so that they can enrol in our universities,” Ruto said.
On agriculture, the president said that from March 1, all farmers who deliver their milk to the state-owned milk processor New KCC will be paid Sh50 per litre as the government has pumped in millions of shillings to buy the milk.
