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Mr President, this is my wish list in New Year 2024

Mr President, this is my wish list in New Year 2024
President William Ruto. PHOTO/@StateHouseKenya/X

Dear Mr President, I take this chance to wish you and all Kenyans that the year 2024 will bring renewed hope of good health and prosperity to our country.

The year 2023 was a challenging one as global politics continue to contribute to high cost of living. And of course, not to forget the floods that ravaged our country, a manifestation that climate change is real.

Despite the many challenges that your administration faced, it is good to acknowledge that you ensured that the country remains cohesive by embracing dialogue with the Opposition.  Your meeting and subsequent deliberations with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was a political masterstroke that cooled the political temperatures. As they say an easy life does not make men, nor does it build nations. Challenges make men and it is these men who build nations. The lessons you have learnt since you assumed office in August 2022 have given you empirical wisdom for a better 2024.

Mr President, here is my wish list for 2024. Corruption; From September 2022 to the end of 2023, we saw a trend where court cases were being dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) due to alleged lack of evidence. I hope that in 2024 the edible oil scandal and many other corruption cases will be investigated and successfully prosecuted.

Independence of our institutions; The only true independent institution is the Judiciary. Our legislature has become an extension of the Executive as they no longer make decisions that put the interests of the common Mwanachi at heart.

That the DPP will not apply selective amnesia but operate with fidelity to the dictates of the law.  We hope that 2024 will anchor and strengthen the rule of law to have strong institutions that that will protect the interests of all Kenyans.

Inclusivity, Mr President, Kenyans were very happy when you said it boldly that the mantra of “government of shares” is not only retrogressive but primitive and archaic. Sadly, we have witnessed State appointments from only certain sections of the country at the exclusion of the majority. We hope that 2024, you will correct the anomalies and establish an inclusive government that embraces Kenya’s 44 tribes. 

Austerity measures in government. Mr President, while the majority of Kenyans are wallowing in poverty due to the high cost of living, your government is living large.

We therefore expect that you will put measures in place to initiate frugality.  For instance, State House can reduce its budget by cutting the cost of travelling abroad and around the country.  Worshipping is a private function and your excellency; you can quietly walk into the church and seek God’s guidance instead of the publicised Sunday church worships that require a lot of government resources in moblisation and setting up of tents. Cost of living; Mr President, the shilling has really depreciated, and government should look into intervention measures. My suggestion is that you issue an executive order to all counties to freeze foreign travel for at least one year. Even the National government should freeze foreign travel unless it is extremely essential.

 Lastly Mr President, do not look at the rear mirror and heap blames on the previous administration. A government is an ongoing enterprise and leaders come and go.

 National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah’s statement that the government will establish a State Capture Commission in February 2024 might be a good idea, but equally a golden poisoned chalice.

 Is this commission going to investigate events from 1963 to the present? Or is it going to target 2017 to 2022. What Kenya needs right now is cohesion and political stability.  We would not have had a nation right now if former President Mwai Kibaki would have decided to form a state capture commission to investigate the previous Nyayo government.

— The writer is based in Hong Kong mist

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