Kabando fires back at those angered by wantam chants
By Faith Lagat, August 8, 2025Former Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando has renewed his fierce critique of President William Ruto’s administration, stressing that while joining the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is a democratic right, holding the government to account is equally a constitutional mandate.
In a fiery X post on Friday, August 8, 2025, Kabando declared, “Joining Ruto’s UDA kakistocracy is your democratic choice. It’s also our constitutional choice to oversee, critique, and even oppose Ruto’s kleptocracy. Don’t be bitter with our WANTAM chants and #RutoMustGo crusade. You chose your side. We love the lane we trek! Chuki ya nini?” His remarks underscored his steadfast opposition to what he terms a corrupt and incompetent regime.
Linking criticism to rising repression
Kabando’s comments follow earlier accusations made on July 28, 2025, where he branded Ruto “the source, cause, and perpetrator of rotten governance today,” alleging that the president had failed to self-reflect and instead embraced “intimidation, violence, abduction, torture, and killing of critics” while sponsoring militias.
The ex-MP tied his stance to the recent disappearance of activist Mwabili Mwagodi, who went missing on July 23, 2025, in Tanzania after criticising Ruto’s controversial church fundraisers. Mwagodi later recounted being abandoned in a bush in Kwale County before facing police harassment in Diani. The incident has fuelled public outrage and bolstered Kabando’s claims of an orchestrated crackdown on dissent.
Youth movements and economic discontent
Kabando’s rhetoric taps into the growing youth-led “WANTAM” chants and the #RutoMustGo campaign, which surged after the 2024 Finance Bill protests. These demonstrations were driven by public frustration over economic hardship, including a 5.6 per cent inflation rate recorded by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in July 2025.
He argues that the pushback against “tyranny and misrule” is rooted in the constitutional right to demand accountability, especially when living costs continue to rise and governance remains contentious. His framing positions him as a rallying voice for those disillusioned by the current leadership.
Dismissing anti-graft efforts as PR
Kabando has also taken aim at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s (EACC) 2024 National Ethics and Corruption Survey, terming it a “wasteful PR ruse”. Speaking on August 6, 2025, he dismissed both the survey and high-profile prayer meetings at what he called the “graft epicentre, Ikulu ya Ufisadi na Uongo” as “comic drama”.
He called for concrete action — arrests, asset recovery, and custodial sentences — over what he views as symbolic gestures. The EACC report, released on August 5, 2025, found that while 22.4 per cent of Kenyans believe jailing corrupt individuals would help curb graft, 26.4 per cent strongly disagreed that MPs show credible intent to address the vice.
For Kabando, the survey’s findings reinforce his demand for decisive anti-graft enforcement, arguing that political will, not PR exercises, will determine whether Kenya can tackle corruption.