Homa Bay town Member of Parliament (MP) George Peter Kaluma has urged Kenyans to grant President William Ruto room to govern, arguing that the administration is operating under a severely constrained fiscal environment inherited from past borrowing.

In a post on X on Thursday, July 17, 2025, Kaluma linked current economic pressures to what he describes as unsustainable debt accumulation under previous regimes, much of which he claims cannot be properly accounted for.

“The government is operating in a very tight fiscal space due to debts taken by the past regime, most of which they stole and can’t be accounted for.”

Kalum stated that the global youth employment crisis must be understood in context before blame is placed solely on the Kenyan government.

He cited World Bank and International Monetary Fund projections that the global youth bulge will reach an estimated one point two billion skilled young people without jobs by the year 2035, and he has stressed that unemployment is not a uniquely Kenyan problem.

He further argued that governments do not employ populations directly but rather create the environment in which private enterprise can grow and generate work opportunities.

“The youth bulge will stand at 1.2 billion skilled young people globally without jobs by 2035, according to the WB and IMF.  It is not a challenge for Kenya alone, Governments don’t employ, but create an environment in which the private sector will thrive to create job opportunities for the people.”

Current revenue

Citing current revenue performance, Kaluma said the Kenya Revenue Authority collects about Ksh2.5 trillion, most of which is consumed by interest payments on debt, which he has placed at roughly Ksh1.1 trillion, alongside recurrent expenditure of about Ksh1.35 trillion.

He credited what he calls sheer ingenuity within the Ruto administration for keeping Kenya from sliding into default, which he warned would carry severe consequences for the country.

“Currently, KRA collects about Sh. 2.5 trillion, which is largely going to repayment of interests on debts, not the principal debt (sh.1.1 trillion) and recurrent expenditure (sh. 1.35 trillion). By sheer ingenuity, Ruto has kept Kenya afloat, away from “default” with dire consequences.”

Kaluma also spoke to the tone of national debate, noting that he frequently follows and participates in discussions on X Space.

He observed that many of these forums begin with intense emotion but lose force when confronted with hard fiscal and governance facts, often devolving into empty political sloganeering.

On that, he expressed a wish that more young Kenyans, including those from less privileged backgrounds, would join such dialogues in order to engage meaningfully with the country’s challenges.

“I listen to debates on X-Space and participate in a good number of them. The debates, which always start with great fury, always fizzle in the face of facts and turn to empty political sloganeering. I wish all our youths, not just sons and daughters of the rich, would be in the X-Spaces.”

Protests

On the protest wave popularly associated with Gen Z activism, Kaluma remarked that in Homa Bay, as in many other regions, there is no longer an identifiable Gen Z movement in its original form.

He said that the current mobilisation is now largely driven by civil society actors and individuals from the Mount Kenya region rather than by spontaneous youth-led momentum on the ground.

“In Homa Bay, as in most regions of Kenya, we no longer have anything like the Gen Z movement. The movement is now driven by the civil society and people from the Mt. Kenya region.”

Kaluma further appealed for tempering of what he describes as unjustified hostility toward the Ruto administration.

He singled out the media, civil society, and religious leadership for what he views as an overly adversarial posture that fails to acknowledge policy gains.

He argued that even major reforms in the health sector under the Social Health Authority framework are receiving little or no credit in mainstream coverage.

“There is too much unjustified hostility towards the current administration from the Media, Civil Society and the Religious Society. The mainstream media reports nothing good from this administration, not even the revolution brought to the health sector by SHA!”

Reinforcing his broader point on national stability, Kaluma reminded Kenyans that the country does not belong to any one leader but to all its citizens.

He urged the public to allow President Ruto the operational space required to govern while continuing to offer ideas that can improve national outcomes.

“Not all challenges are resolved by running on the streets in Nairobi CBD. Let’s keep the State as we exercise human rights and fundamental freedoms.”