Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has continued his sustained criticism of President William Ruto’s governance.

Speaking during a live interview on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the senator chastised Ruto’s administration, affirming that Kenya was being ruled by a broken system with poor management and governance.

While referencing a conversation on X where netizens raised concerns about the quality of leadership in the country, the senator shared that a section of Kenyans feel they voted for leaders who are mentally unstable due to their mannerisms. He, however, insinuated that the public on its part had failed to effectively play its role by electing leaders without ideologies and values.

“The truth is, we have a system that is broken;, the basic tenets of good management and governance, we have literally destroyed all that.

“We have Kenyans wondering what is wrong with those we voted for, most of us in these offices are half mad, because the way we behave, you look at our nature, it is very despicable and yet every Sunday we go to church to pray to God; politicians are elected without ideologies and values,” he said.

Onyonka further asserted that most behaviour portrayed by Kenyan leaders were enabled due to a lack of consequences.

Onyonka’s continued criticism

Onyonka has continuously maintained his criticism of the government’s policies.

He recently condemned the National Treasury for attempting to increase the salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs). 

Addressing the media, Onyonka claimed that the government , particularly the National Treasury, was deliberately making some structures dysfunctional by increasing their salaries.

“There are certain structures that have been made deliberately dysfunctional. Somebody in Treasury decided to increase our salaries,, and I never asked for a salary increment. You can’t give me what I didn’t ask for. An MCA right now is earning Ksh81,000,, and you are making my salary Ksh1 million? At least they should give MCAs their money,” he stated.

Prior to this, the senator had initially opposed the salary increments for civil servants, noting that the funds would be better utilised in supporting vulnerable children struggling to access education.

“We never asked for any salary increment. Let that money be channelled to the needy children of this country who are not able to access education. An additional Ksh360,000 to my payslip as a senator can not be a priority when we are grappling with such tough and unbearable economic times as a country!” he stated.