An open letter to President-elect Ruto

The much-anticipated 2022 General Election ended with Monday’s declaration of Deputy President William Ruto as the President-elect. This is an open letter to the fifth President of Kenya.

Dear Mr President. During the campaign period, you traversed the county asking for votes and, come August 9, Kenyans elected you. You have the task of appreciating them by tackling the various challenges they face.

Top on the list is the high cost of living, unemployment among the youth, meltdown of the economy, corruption, ballooning public debt, barriers to access to healthcare and education, poverty, drought and starvation in some parts of the country.

Some of these you came across them during the campaigns. But since you were not in power, you pleaded that you lacked the wherewithal to help us out.

High cost of living

The high cost of living being the top priority of many ordinary Kenyans, in your first 100 days, as you promised, do all it takes to tame it. The prices of most basic commodities have doubled, making them unaffordable for many citizens, who go hungry.

The Ministry of Agriculture had begun a subsidy programme for unga (maize flour), which it ended as the presidential votes were being tallied, citing lack of funds. You ought to allocate more funds and boost the agricultural sector to end food shortages.

Mr President, you have the power to shut the door on corrupt individuals. Corruption has been a ‘disease’ for many years, with little done to combat it. That Kenya ranks at the top of the corruption is shameful. Have corrupt individuals punished and their activities stopped so that public funds are used to give the mwananchi the services they deserve.

Create a conducive environment for investors .It is worrying that Kenya was ranked the second-worst country to invest in. Remove all the barriers that hinder investors’ forays into Kenya. Investors play a big role, including growing the local industry.

Youth unemployment

Young Kenyans have been complaining about unemployment for many years and this might have contributed to their low turnouts in the latest elections. Youths are the majority in the country, so it is high time you rescued them from the jaws of joblessness. A good number of them have skills but lack jobs. Employment is difficult to get because manufacturing has become a difficult enterprise in this country.

Mandela said education is the best weapon to change the world. You should remove all barriers that children face in their quest for education. The new CBC system should be improved.

Ensure universal health coverage—one of the ‘Big Four Agenda’ items in the Jubilee government that you were part of—is achieved. Generally, you should revive the economy, which has been wrecked by the Covid-19 global pandemic since early 2020.

Many Kenyans cannot grow crops or rear livestock since they live in dry areas. Tackle this by initiating irrigation schemes.

You have the sword; go hunting and bring home the meat.

Rodgers Otiso, Migori