Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has weighed in on the government’s economic empowerment programs rolled out across sub-counties, with the most recent being in the Mt Kenya region. 

Speaking at Limuru Girls High School, where he attended the ‘One Student, One Tree Launch’ event on Saturday, May 17, 2025, Sapit chastised the government over the initiatives noting that the projects are publicity stunts targeting a political narrative that benefits leaders.   

He went on to state that the government had misplaced priorities, he wondered why the state would deliberately disburse millions into roadside donations and token projects when schools were struggling to function due to delayed capitation. 

The cleric added that the funds disbursed for the programs should be channeled to key projects such as school, the healthcare sector and the agriculture sector among others. 

“Handouts will never change anybody’s life. They will get it and finish it in the evening with the liquors and other bad habits. When you teach people how to work and ensure that we have markets for our crops.

“I think what the government needs is to put all the money being spent in these barazas and even in these many campaigns — be it from the opposition or the government, into our schools. Our principals are crying because the capitation is not enough. They cannot keep our students as long as we wish them to be in school,“ Sapit said. 

Adding;

“We want the funding model of the universities to work. We want the healthcare system to work. But we also want the agriculture sector to work — that the government should put infrastructure in place so that every farmer will have the opportunity to take their produce to market in time because there are good roads,” he added. 

Continuing his speech, Sapit called on leaders to focus on service delivery and stop what he described as premature campaigns, for national progress. 

He equally condemned the increasing cases of political violence warning that it could potentially threaten national stability. 

Further, the man of the cloth implored Kenyans to protect democratic spaces from individuals with negative motives such as thuggery and disruption.