How Ruto’s Nairobi tour exposed his administration [Pulse Editor's Opinion]

For a President who has been in office for more than two years, the extensive tour of Nairobi by President William Ruto was meant to be a victory lap to highlight the work that has been accomplished over the period.

Whether the tour served the purposes or not can best be told by those behind it, but it did expose President Ruto’s administration on many fronts.

Where are the projects undertaken by the national gov't?

A look at the projects lunched by the President indicates that not much has been implemented by his administration over the years.

In fact a number of projects launched have been implemented by Members of Parliament, making it clear that not many substantive projects have been undertaken by the national government.

READ: Ruto's CSs who were swept away by Gen Z protests: Where are they & what are they doing?

The tour saw him launch markets, classrooms and schools in different constituencies, and in some cases the president only toured what is already in existence.

If the tour was to focus solely on projects implemented by the national government, it would have probably lasted just a few hours or a day at maximum.

Photos splashed on social media & the reality on the ground

In politics, publicity and image is everything and the tour capitalized on just that. The President and his entourage had “inspection tour” at different areas including the school feeding program in Nairobi that has been in existence for years now.

While the photos splashed on social media paint the image of a working system, the reality is far from the same.

The glitz portrayed in the photos is far from the reality of the chaos in Kenya’s public education sector that is on the brink of collapse. Both primary and secondary schools face acute funding challenges, frequent strike by teachers, overcrowded classrooms with some learning under trees and in dilapidated buildings across the country.

Matters are worse in public universities where strike by lecturers are the order of the day, with leadership crisis across major universities in the country. The case of Moi University is a perfect case study, with University of Nairobi also not spared.

Higher Education funding is also another elephant in the room, one which some wish will simply walk away but requires deliberate efforts and a clear plan to sort out the mess.

The crisis in health sector & mess in public hospitals

Anyone who is in touch with the realities in the country must be familiar with the mess in the health sector and public hospitals where a majority of Kenyans seek medical services.

The president’s tour lacked substance on the health front. Whether by design or accident can best be told by those who planned his schedule but speculation is rife that anything that could have painted the tour in bad light was avoided.

Despite passing infront of major public hospitals or being within just a few minutes away where as little as five minutes would have given him a better picture of the mess that Kenyans have to face everyday, the president and his team did not find it fit to include the same in his schedule.

Criminal gangs reigning terror: Where did things go wrong?

A primary role of every government is to ensure the safety of its citizens and their property and if judgement is to be made by the events that unfolded during the tour then President William Ruto’s administration has failed.

Lawlessness reared its ugly head with criminal gangs reigning terror and grabbing anything and everything they came across.

Criminal elements and gangsters armed with knives and other weapons had a field day with Nairobi police boss George Seda admitting to security lapses that left Nairobians counting losses with those caught up on the heavy traffic not spared.

They started even stopping vehicles on the road, they took advantage of the situation. Those kinds of things cannot be allowed to continue. Those were criminals, and their intention was to commit crimes. Criminal gangs—we cannot allow them.

Police have since confirmed the arrest of 38 suspects who will be processed and arraigned in court.

After the chaos on Day 1 of the tour, one would have expected better security in the subsequent days but it appears no lessons were learn as matters only got worse in the subsequent day.

What went wrong, were the police overwhelmed or should Kenyans accept that their security, safety and that of their property cannot be guaranteed by their government is the question that begs an answer.

Roadside declarations & more promises

A functioning government has its programs grounded in policy with a clear plan and strategy. What unfolded during the tour was roadside declarations that may not amount to much.

The tour saw President Ruto make several proclamations, some of which may need deep thought and clear plan to achieve and may ultimately not see light of day.

From promising the addition of chapati to the Nairobi school feeding program with a machine capable of churning out 1 million chapatis a day to declaring that Mathematics will no longer be a compulsory subject, Ruto had his mouth full of promises.

Policy experts however hold a different view, insisting that while the roadside declarations made in the spur of the moment to please the crowd can become a reality, much thought should have gone into them before the President made them as failing to turn them into a reality only adds to the bag of unfulfilled pledges that is already weighing heavily on the Head of State.

Jobs: Story told by huge crowds on a weekday

To a politician, pulling a huge crowd especially on a weekday may be an indication that he or she is loved.

The huge crowds that turned out are indicative of the acute unemployment situation in the country.

Had the situation been different, the crowd would have been leaner as majority would have been at work or in their businesses.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Pulse as its publisher