Last Thursday’s State of the Nation address in Parliament marked a major turning point in President William Ruto’s status as the nation’s leader.
What was meant be an illuminating scorecard of his two-year administration turned out to be a critical scrutiny of his constitutional obligations and a sharp indictment of his policies and leadership style.
The address underscored the enduring supremacy of the Constitution and the people, and further reaffirmed the principle of separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Clearly anchored in the statutes, the Constitution requires the President to annually present before Parliament three reports, effectively an assessment of the presidency that acts as a performance appraisal.
First, is a report on the realization of national values, second, in fulfilling the republic’s international obligations, and the third on the state of security.
From public reaction and by his own admission before overawed legislators experiencing a serious credibility test of their own – the performance fails on several counts.
While Ruto stoically tried to defend his track record, the events of the preceding week completely exposed the glaring fragilities and contradictions of his rule. And the stinging admonition came from the Church, the same Church he rode on the crest of the Christian vote to become President.
Christians constitute 80 percent of Kenya’s population, including Catholics, whose bishops led the chorus of scathing condemnation of Ruto’s government for perpetuating a “culture of lies”.
The bishops also raised issues about over-taxation, violation of human rights including police brutality extrajudicial killings, abductions and forced evictions.
They strongly expressed concern over endemic corruption, freedom of speech, rampant unemployment, especially among the youth, and a “crumbling” education system and healthcare services. The clergy said despite calm in the country, people are losing trust in the government.
Christians in the evangelical churches and the Anglican Church supported the Catholics, censuring Ruto’s conceited and boisterous political allies who faced a public backlash for making “dishonest, misleading erroneous and false” remarks against the bishops’ statement.
Vox populi, vox Dei – The Voice of the People is the voice of God – is a Latin phrase that literally means “voice of the people”, in English used as the opinion of the majority of the people. Well, the people have spoken through the Church.
Ruto has been stunned to realize that church leaders of all creeds are losing faith in him, seeing him less as a saviour and more as the greedy biblical tax collector whose moniker Zakayo wananchi have already baptized him.
The Anglicans went further to defend the Catholic bishops, saying they had spoken the mind of Kenyans and faithfully expressed the truth as things are on the ground.
Matters worsened when the Catholic Church rejected a donation Sh5.6 million he made at the Soweto Catholic Church, terming it illegal.
The perceived close relationship between Ruto and the Church is broken. The Church is atoning for the “sin” it was accused of siding with the government instead of the Gen Z during deadly protests against the imposed Finance Bill, 2024, despite the people’s strong opposition.
In his speech in Parliament, Ruto seems to have learned from and listened to the Church (the people) the hard way. By cancelling the questionable Adani deal, he just addressed one of the chronic issues raised.
He has a long “to do” list to restore the people’s faith in him.
— The writer comments on national affairs; [email protected]
