Ndegwa Njiru: Ruto’s UNGA address exposed Kenya’s declining influence
By Kiprono Keileb, September 25, 2025Outspoken lawyer Ndegwa Njiru has launched a stinging attack on President William Ruto’s performance at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, accusing him of failing to attract international confidence and diminishing Kenya’s sovereignty.
Speaking during a political talk show aired by a local radio station on Thursday, September 25, 2025, Njiru dismissed the President’s engagements at the global forum, claiming they were nothing more than attempts to mask a lack of legitimacy on the world stage.
“Ruto is having problems. Look at how he’s trying to convene a ‘mpango wa kando’ at the UNGA to convince people to support his botched Haiti mission,” Njiru said.
The lawyer further claimed that the President’s main address at the UNGA drew an unusually small audience, which he argued was evidence of Kenya’s weakened international standing.
“When President Ruto addressed the UNGA assembly, only 3 or 4 people listened to his address. That shows how our sovereignty has decayed as a result of William Ruto’s inability to govern and inability to keep national and international cohesion,” Njiru stated.
Njiru’s remarks come at a time when Ruto’s participation in the annual assembly has attracted both praise and criticism locally, with supporters hailing his push for global reforms and critics questioning his diplomatic influence.
By describing the President’s bilateral engagements as “side meetings,” Njiru suggested that Ruto has been sidelined from the main global discourse. His reference to the Haiti mission also reflects continued debate at home over Kenya’s decision to lead a multinational security deployment to the Caribbean nation, a move that has faced legal and political hurdles.
For Njiru, the optics at the UNGA are a direct indictment of the President’s leadership style. He argued that the dwindling respect shown to Kenya at such a global platform reflects what he called Ruto’s “inability to keep cohesion” both internally and internationally.
Njiru’s comments are likely to stir further debate on how Kenya is being perceived abroad, particularly as the country navigates economic challenges, political realignments, and its expanded role in global security interventions.