President William Ruto has revisited his criticism of the united opposition leaders, stating that the country cannot afford to risk entrusting leadership in the hands of such leaders.

Speaking in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, on Thursday, January 8, 2025, during the disbursement of Nyota Funds, Ruto stated that the people aspiring to leadership must demonstrate their plans and development record as the basis for being elected.

Agenda for the youth

“Kenya has a lot of propaganda; we have those who are not revealing how they will plan for the youth to gain employment. They are only speaking of how they will mobilise youth to vote. If you want to be elected and also state what you have for the people in their plans,” he stated.

He further castigated them for lacking a tangible plan for the youths of Kenya, faulting the entitlement for leadership without disclosing what their agenda will hold for the ordinary Kenyans.

“These people must find an agenda and a manifesto and tell us how they will go about implementing it and how they will fund it. If someone has been in leadership for 20 or 40 years and has no track record, we cannot risk our country with such people,” he added.

Intervention on education

His remarks come after he elaborated on the measures taken by his administration to address the funding pitfall in the education sector.

Speaking at the same function, Ruto explained that the government had committed to ensuring the full amount of the standard capitation rate of Ksh22,244 per learner per year for senior schools also reaches the learning centres in time for the next two terms.

“We have committed to making sure that the full capitation funds of Ksh 22,000 for each and every child are available in the next two terms so that our children can study uninterrupted,” he stated.

Human resources

He described the interventions as part of the government’s plans to fund basic education as a priority for national development and the backbone of Kenya’s most potent and richest resource: human capital.

“The biggest resource we have in Kenya is our human capital. Our young people of the republic are the most productive part of it. That is why we are investing more money in this regard—in the education sector, the construction of laboratories, and other projects—because education is the only way to sharpen that human capital,” he added.