Too much noise and vagueness in Kenya Kwanza's 'The Plan' idea

A customer at Khetia Supermaket in Nyeri on June 6, 2023. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

It bears no repeating that we are now in the final weeks of the 2023/24 season that will give us Kenya Kwanza administration's maiden budget, and President William Ruto's first coherent statement of intent to Kenyans on his transformation agenda. But, we will repeat it anyway, after enduring nine months of promises upon promises made by the president and his administration, even as recently as the Madaraka Day address. No wonder we have a growing number of citizen-led tracking initiatives trying to keep up, since neither the Azimio minority nor our media can!

This is not a vague and idle sentiment. When the country's active and vibrant social media creates the term "Mtukufu Lies", this is not just a play on words (from Mtukufu Rais), it is the reflection of a growing view of the president and his administration as what the Americans call "all hat, no cattle", or more pejoratively, "snake oil salesmen". After President Ruto's recent Sunday media interview, I asked a colleague if he followed the discussion. His terse response in the negative - "Following the president is like following the Nairobi Stock Exchange. There's a new position every day".