Retired Chief Justice David Maraga has slammed government empowerment programmes across the country as a ploy to hoodwink Kenyans from noticing the dysfunction in the current regime.

Speaking during a town hall meeting in Kirinyaga County on Friday, August 1, 2025, Maraga observed that the money distributed to members of the public in the name of empowerment was inadequate and unsustainable.

“Hii mambo mnaambiwa ati empowerment ni ya nini? Mnataka kuletewa shillingi elfu moja? Hiyo ukipewa itachukua siku ngapi?” he posed. (What is the meaning of all the empowerment tours in the country? Do you want to be given Ksh1,000? How long will that last you?)

Source of funds

Maraga equally challenged members of the public to probe the sources of the empowerment funds before receiving them.

“You should first ask yourself where the money has come from before you receive it. These are proceeds of corruption that have been stolen from you and repackaged as empowerment by those who have stolen from you,” Maraga said.

“They come back to give you handouts from the stolen money to make you believe that they have your best interest at heart.”

Conducive environment

Maraga said that the government should concentrate its efforts on providing a conducive environment in the country for citizens to thrive in their own ways, instead of distributing money in the form of empowerment programmes.

“All I know is that Kenyans just require the government to do its part and let the citizens thrive in their own ways,” Maraga stated.

While Maraga has yet to settle on a political party or a coalition of parties to contest for the 2027 presidency, he faces an uphill task in convincing his Gusii backyard, who have fielded another candidate- Fred Matiang’i.

Maraga fashions himself as the Gen Z presidential candidate and remains a favourite among the youthful voters, who bank on his political inexperience as the only way to drain the swamp of old names in the current political scene.