Ruto's state address missed the mark

President William Ruto’s State of the Nation Address’ opening remarks were poetic before statistics began to bog down the audience.

The hook of the speech was Kenya becoming a developed country in our lifetime, a Singapore of sorts, according to his lofty vision.

But other Asian tigers were mentioned. Is Malaysia one of the Asian tigers? They are traditionally Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The President’s speech omitted Taiwan; you can probably guess why. Is Singapore—a city-state with 10 per cent of the Kenyan population and 0.12 per cent of our landmass—the best benchmark?

What was the benchmark when writing the 2010 Constitution? 

Ruto’s explanation of the rise of the Asian tigers was, “They simply had the courage to make bold, disciplined, deliberate choices. They invested in their people, demanded excellence, and refused to be trapped by the limitations of their circumstances. They refused to make peace with mediocrity.”

How many of these virtues have we adopted? The speech paints a grand vision of a country with “equality of opportunity and where no one is left behind.” What is the reality on the ground? 

Then followed macroeconomic data, a theme in yesteryear’s speech: good rains, stable oil prices and our empty pockets have tamed inflation. Add the stable shilling because we are a net importer. Never mind the unusual stability of the shilling. 

Other macro indicators include paying for Eurobond, Kenya becoming the 6th largest economy in Africa, higher foreign reserves, and GDP growth hitting 5.0-5.6 per cent in 2026 as forecast by banks.

Add credit rating improvements, despite our earlier criticism of rating agencies. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has tripled, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) index is on the rise.  

That data is rosy and good for sophisticated Kenyans; for ordinary Kenyans, it’s pure jargon. To the hoi polloi, it boils down to reality: rent, school fees, food, clothes, and possible savings.  

The data is unlikely to be popular with the “high priest of eternal pessimism.” Poetry again. Whose are these priests?  

Like last year, agriculture is given a lot of airtime. More maize and lower unga (maize flour) prices. Key crops beyond maize include sugar, coffee and tea.

Why is maize so lonely as a food crop? What of potatoes, rice or even beans? Why has maize remained the high priest of crops? The question in everyone’s mind is how much money in the agricultural supply chains goes to the farmers?  

Health was cited with statistics on registrations and screenings. What about life expectancy? Health promoters were also given prominence.

But what about unemployed doctors? Maybe a response to public cries; shortages of drugs and their prices are cited.

Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) and cancer treatment got a mention too. On the ground, health is still a contentious issue since we shifted from the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Authority (SHA). 

On education, more teachers have been hired and will be hired. How are they hired? Based on merit and equality? What of graduate unemployment? Why has Junior Secondary School (JSS) become a watermelon?

Affordable housing is the darling of the Kenya Kwanza (KK) government. Why not some data on what the market has delivered on housing? One quick test of affordable housing is whether rent has gone down as the supply of houses has gone up. A curious project is the Nairobi River regeneration. What of other rivers? Does the river regeneration involve its sources? How much riparian land is under threat in Nairobi? 

Unemployment is addressed through the Hustler and Nyota funds. What happened to the youth and women’s funds?  Why no statistics on unemployment rates? Digitalisation is another part of the KK government agenda through innovation hubs and digital government services.

Any patents on digital innovations and jobs thereof? Curiously, digitalisation is seen as the cure for corruption. What of the human factor?

Clearly, the biggest bump on the way to the African tiger, Singapore, is corruption, and that got scant attention. 

The speech repeatedly returned to Asian tigers and their rise: “History answers us plainly: none. Their rise was not magic; it was intentional and crafted through leadership, discipline, strategic investment, and an uncompromising rejection of mediocrity.”  

Discipline was about zero tolerance on corruption; rejecting mediocrity was about embracing meritocracy. Are we there yet? 

The juicy part of the speech was how to become an African tiger. Better yet, a lion or even a fox.  Four focus areas were mentioned. 

One is education: more money and increased allocation to research and development, up to two per cent of GDP. Hope the money will go to real research, not salaries and wages. More focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is good. 

Two is a shift to irrigation with mega dams and 2.5 million acres of irrigated land. The locations of the dams were given: a political message? 

The President also cited more power generation to 10,000 megawatts. Was that not in Vision 2030? To ordinary Kenyans, it’s about the price of power and its reliability. Will the new power generation mix reduce the cost of power? Any independent power producers?  

Lastly was transport and logistics, with a list of roads to be dualled. A political statement, again? There was also mention of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Kisumu and Malaba, as well as ports and airports to be upgraded.  

The elephant in the room is funding. Taxes and debts are muted. The new sources are the national infrastructure fund and the national sovereign wealth fund. The latter was floated after Kenya’s oil discovery in 2010.  

The seed money for the infrastructure fund is the proceeds of the privatisation of state-owned enterprises. How much will that raise?  Who will invest in it? More toll roads? Will the new funds keep off securitisation?  

A sovereign wealth fund is a great idea. Countries like Norway did very well on that, with oil. Which minerals will give us that money? Gold? Oil? Coltan? 

How shall ring-fencing be done, yet have national debt to pay?  The Sh5 trillion needed for these projects is half our national debt, excluding pending bills.  

Curiously, former president Uhuru Kenyatta and the late ODM leader Raila Odinga were mentioned. Last year, it was about a broad-based government.  

The man who started the “journey to Singapore” was not mentioned.

What was missing in the speech? How did the Asian tigers tame corruption? How do we reduce creeping over-centralisation and micromanagement? 

Why so little on global issues, including ongoing issues in East Africa? Why was climate change muted just after COP30? 

What political structure and governance will turn Kenya into a Singapore? How do we create more trust in the government?

The speech, in my opinion, did not talk to the heart and soul of Wanjiku; it was more about the forest, not the trees.