Ruto tells off Gachagua over national schools placement

President William Ruto.[File, Standard]

President William has told off his former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, over his remarks that national schools in the central region were not admitting local students.

Yesterday, Ruto described the remarks as desperate and told the impeached Deputy President to look for a serious agenda to sell to Kenyans.

The President and the opposition had resorted to dividing young Kenyans through the politicisation of education.

According to Ruto, the Gachagua-led united opposition was using ethnic balkanisation in what he described as a desperate push to rise to power.

“You want to divide children in schools. How desperate can people be? Let our children be. Let our children learn. Those children are Kenyans, regardless of where they come from, and the communities they come from, they are children of Kenya,” Ruto said in a response to the remarks made four days ago.

In a scathing attack against the Kenya Kwanza's management of grade 10 transition, Gachagua faulted the government over what he called a confused and unfair placement system to senior schools.

Gachagua, in his remarks, accused Ruto’s administration of humiliating children from the central region by not admitting them to senior national schools such as Mang’u and Alliance.

But Ruto said his administration managed the Competency-Based Education, leading to a seamless transition.

Ruto told the united opposition to stop dividing Kenyans along tribal lines and discuss agendas ahead of the 2027 general election.

“If a leader has no agenda, he will start selling tribalism. Those who have no plans are selling violence,” the President said during the disbursement of money to youth selected under the Nyota business start-up grants in Eldoret.

At the same time, he renewed his war against drug traffickers and illicit alcohol dealers, directing a crackdown against big traders engaging in the distribution of harmful substances.

Ruto warned that drug and alcohol cartels will be arrested in a looming anti-narcotics police-led crackdown.

The President has declared war against illicit alcohol and drugs during his New Year's message.

Yesterday, he maintained that special police units were ready to fight millionaire alcohol and drug barons, who he said have ruined the lives of many Kenyan youths.

“We are going after commercial traders and the small traders. We want to deal with the cartels and rich persons who are smuggling illicit drugs and distributing them across the country,” Ruto said, and added that he was not ready to back down in the war against drugs and abuse.

He told beneficiaries of the business start-ups not use the proceeds of their investments to engage in irresponsible drinking, saying the menace was impeding economic growth.

He praised the youth empowerment programme, saying it was part of his mission to make Kenya a first-world country through wealth creation.

Nine thousand out of 88,000 youth applicants from the North Rift counties of Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Elgeyo Marakwet received Sh22,000 for business start-ups.

“There was a previous program that was not done transparently and in an accountable manner. The beneficiaries were unknown,” Ruto said during the first disbursement exercise.