President William Ruto is set to make his second address of a special sitting of Parliament on Thursday at a time he is governing under the broad-based arrangement.
Contrary to the scenes witnessed last September when the opposition MPs kept off the “State of the Nation” address, only to criticise Dr Ruto’s speech as having little to write home about, things will certainly be different with the appointment of ODM’s strong voices in the Cabinet.
The Head of State is expected to deliver his address once every year and may address Parliament at any other time to give a status update of three key issues, among them national security.
The President is obligated to appraise the legislature on all the measures taken by his administration and the progress achieved in the realisation of the national values, referred to in Article 10.
Article 132 of the constitution requires him to “publish in the Gazette the details of the measures and progress and submit a report for debate to the National Assembly on the progress made in fulfilling the international obligations of the republic”.
In 2022, the president addressed the opening of the 13th Parliament by outlining his legislative agenda to actualise his Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (Beta). Last year, Dr Ruto enumerated the steps his administration had taken to address the three critical areas.
Next week’s joint House address – as communicated to members by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula – comes at a time the Kenya Kwanza administration is on the spot over cases of abduction and police excesses, the embracing the broad-based government, grappling with the new health insurance scheme, the aftermath of the Gen-Z protests in June that saw Parliament breached, and runaway graft.
In his address last September, the President stressed on his pet subject, the affordable housing project. He also discussed the transformation of the education sector, the Universal Health Coverage (UHC), digitisation of government and transformation of the security sector, among others.
“We have laid a firm foundation for rapid development, and Kenya is no longer ‘on your marks’. The state of our Nation at this moment in time is Prepared and Ready to Go,” Dr Ruto said in his closing remarks.
Now, various leaders and the clergy are on his neck, poking holes in the implementation of Social Health Insurance Fund that (Shif) which is facing teething problems, the state of the economy and security as well as unfilled promises.
Following a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, a Cabinet despatch noted despite the challenges and successes with Shif, over 14 million Kenyans have been registered to SHA and over Sh5 billion has already been paid to hospitals – including faith-based, public and private institutions – to clear pending bills.
The meeting also noted that the economy continues its strong recovery from past global and domestic challenges, achieving robust growth.
“This is the lowest inflation rate since 2007, during President Mwai Kibaki’s tenure, and aligns with the target set in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto,” said the Thursday despatch.
With a muted opposition presently, there is a lot flying in the air, including the outcry over punitive taxation.
But what will be of focus is Mr Ruto’s scorecard on the state of security as last year he underscored his commitment to the safety and security of Kenyans.
He has come under sharp criticism over cases of abductions and clamping down on free speech, with the oversight role appearing to remain a preserve of the activists, civil societies and some sections of the public.
“In discharging this commitment, we have been mindful not to use security imperatives to commit impunity, including misuse of resources and extrajudicial infringements on freedoms and fundamental human rights of citizens,” the President guaranteed then.
He continued: “We are conscious to provide security as a public service for the benefit of law-abiding citizens, and as a guarantor of economic growth. Therefore, our security services have been committed to a citizen-centred, rights-focused, inclusive and a community-based security strategy.”
Dr Ruto stressed that he was quite clear that there exists no tension between the effective delivery of security services and the upholding of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“We can be, and therefore must, be secure, yet free and democratic,” he added.
However, the President’s address next week, comes in the backdrop of cases of femicide, abductions in the wake of the anti-government protests that began in June to voice opposition towards the contentious Finance Bill, 2024.
This saw Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome resign, Cabinet dissolved, among other changes.
IG Douglas Kanja, in a press statement on Thursday night, gave a breakdown of cases they are dealing with, adding that they had set up a gender desk across the country to handle femicide cases.
He disclosed that there are 57 cases reported of missing persons, of which 22 were found alive, six dead while 29 are still unaccounted for.
“NPS recorded 495 injuries to police officers, 347 injuries to civilians, 42 civilian fatalities and 69 cases of serious damage to government vehicles,” stated Mr Kanja.
More worrying and in response to concerns by Catholic bishops, Mr Kanja said there have been 97 documented deaths of women in three months.
