President Ruto Rebukes Leaders Spreading Negativity About Kenya's Development Agenda

William Ruto has lashed out at political leaders and critics who, according to him, are spearheading negativity and resentment about the current development agenda in Kenya.

On Sunday, at a church service in Samburu County, the Head of State referred to such leaders as regressive and stated that they negatively affect the progress of the country by their constant criticism and pessimism.

Ruto pointed out that a national change would only be achieved when people believe and share in the potential of the country and that they are committed to growing.

He explained that the dreams of prosperity in Kenya could only be realized when citizens and leaders alike informed themselves to hope and stick together instead of questioning and separating. I can see a good number of people who talk badly about our country. I hear a lot of confessions that speak ill of our country, the President said. It has a country like no other. We are blessed people and we should toil and trust in our country.

When you are a leader, and you do not believe in Kenya, you do not have a valuable opinion or a strategy to change this country. When you put all the negativity, you say you are pulling us in the same direction.

The President observed that his administration, since he assumed power, has established a solid foundation for economic change, infrastructure growth, and social development.

He claimed that despite the existing challenges, Kenya has recorded some progress in its development process, and this should not be overlooked but accepted.

Ruto emphasized that leadership is not cynical but hopeful and inspirational. We should talk about life and positivity in our country. Kenya cannot grow with our sole objective being to criticize. Stand with me and continue our success to this point in time, he said.

In the last two years, President Ruto has managed to lay out his long-term plans of the future of Kenya - the vision of an industrialized country, technological development, and sustainable growth.

The most significant programs incorporated in his administration under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) are aimed at empowering small businesses, improving agricultural output, health care, and increasing access to education and housing.

He repeated that he intends to see Kenya, a developing country today- transformed to a first-world country and a high-income country within a period of thirty years.

The President declared that Kenya could get the transformation it has failed to get over decades through hard work, innovation, and national togetherness. Ruto stated that, as a third-world nation, the country has been far too long overdue to change that narrative. Through the hard work of our hands and the togetherness of the people of Kenya, we would like to bring this nation to a first-world country by 2055.

The declaration by Ruto is in line with what he had declared last month, where he once again reiterated his commitment to propel Kenya into industrial and digital progress.

He said that his administration is working on policies that would increase employment opportunities, investment, and raise the standards of living throughout the regions. Nevertheless, not all people are as optimistic as the President. Others who hold political views have questioned whether the plans of the government are impractical, citing some economic setbacks, accumulating national debt, and what they perceive as a lack of concentration towards Vision 2030, which is a previous blueprint of long-term development in Kenya.

The Ruto government has also been accused of leaving the Vision 2030 agenda that was presented in the Mwai Kibaki government to steer Kenya towards industrialization by the year 2030.

They question that although the vision of 2055 given by Ruto is ambitious, the government needs to finish the current projects first before laying new goals.

It is notwithstanding the criticism that Ruto has argued that the programs of his government are equal to the overall development of Kenya and that his vision in the long term is a continuation of the previous plans and not a replacement.

He maintains that Kenya can emerge and be a globally competitive economy through discipline, faith, and working as a team. We as leaders need to cease complaining and start contributing. Kenya is in our hands, and we should trust her future.

The President concluded that only hard work and unity will create roads, schools, and industries, but not negativity.