In the name of empowerment: Why Ruto, Kindiki are the new handout masters

Deputy president Kithure Kindiki welcomed by a women group in Kanyangi, Kitui County on June 27, 2025 during a women empowerment drive. [Philip Muasya/Standard] In one of the greatest ironies of recent times, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki is spearheading a controversial handouts programme where billions are being used in early campaigns, even as schools are forced to close early due to lack of funds. The handouts spree, guised as empowerment programmes, is steered by Prof Kindiki and chaperoned by government supporters led by President Ruto's aide, Faruk Kibet. The campaign programme is taking place at a time when Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has confessed that the government is running on empty. Treasury can no longer fund free education, the university funding model is in shambles, and the health system is staggering. In a desperate attempt to raise revenue-most of which is going towards debt repayment-the government has resorted to raising loans using taxes as collateral, a move experts have said is akin to mortgaging the country's future. While government allies are hailing the new approach as a way of giving hope to the less fortunate in society, critics see this as a new trick by the government to lure locals to their meetings to wait for handouts while listening to President Ruto's re-election campaign. The platforms have become a theatre of 're-engineering development', even in regions where key infrastructure such as schools are mud-walled and roads are impassable, all while advancing two-term political sloganeering aimed at campaigning for Ruto's re-election in 2027. Prof Peter Kagwanja, a policy advisor and strategist, has slammed the Kenya Kwanza administration for misplaced priorities, saying Ruto, through the economic empowerment programmes, will end up producing more hustlers than he found. "This is the first time the country is experiencing a failed system in its history: education, health, sanitation and security sectors are in turmoil. The country has lost its soul," Kagwanja noted. He said the millions used in the social forums ought to be pumped into development and sectors such as education, since using the funds for political expediency will only serve short-term objectives. "The social forums will only create increased levels of illiteracy, poverty and a high dependency rate, while the levels of the middle classes will reduce, thus leading to the highest number of hustlers in the country." On his part, Prof Gitile Naituli, a political analyst, equated the empowerment programmes with stealing from the poor for political mobilisation, saying it was a crime and against humanity. "When leaders divert resources meant for the most vulnerable in order to fund political campaigns, buy loyalty, or sustain patronage networks, they are not merely engaging in corruption-they are committing a crime against humanity," he said. The campaign events have seen Kindiki and government allies traverse the nation, dishing out money to hastily organised groups and promising a better country. Fuel guzzlers While cruising to these events aboard choppers and fuel guzzlers, the villagers flocking to the events do so with hope that their groups will be empowered-only to troop back home almost empty-handed. The disappointment of some Kenyans was captured in a recent event in Kisii, where disillusioned women and youth groups expressed their dismay after being given approximately Sh64. "I was tasked with transporting widows and widowers for an economic empowerment programme-a group consisting of 31 members-but after the event, I was only given Sh2,000, which I did not know how to subdivide. Instead of achieving the intended purpose of uplifting our living standard, the government sowed seeds of discord in our group," said Serah Gecebe, a women's leader. Deputy president Kithure Kindiki is welcomed by a women group in Kambu, Makueni county on June 26, 2025 for an empowerment programme. [Philip Muasya/Standard] In some instances, residents have been forced to share among themselves 2kg of beans, and in others, the attendees are given 2kg of maize flour and an extra Sh250. Critics have accused the government of keeping the country in campaign mode, as it is during the empowerment forums that government allies respond to the Opposition-even as the police have been used to stop government critics from holding political meetings and engaging with the public. Naituli opines that dishing out funds in the social forums is misappropriating public money allocated for healthcare, education, food relief, or social protection schemes-a move he said poses devastating effects, such as denying children education, patients life-saving treatment, and families the basic dignity of survival. "When such theft is channelled into political mobilisation-whether through bribing voters, hiring crowds, or funding propaganda-the consequences are even more grotesque. It weaponises poverty and transforms suffering into a tool for securing power," he observed. Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro claimed the monies being directed to the economic programmes had been sourced from the confidential budget, which he said ought to support free secondary schools-now at risk of suspension. "When you have the authority of Kenyans, your work is to implement and not promise. After realising that Kenyans are angry over the intention to scrap free education, they claim they are in support of it-but we want them to release the money, not engage in mere public talk. The government must reorganise the budget, cut endless State House renovations, and remove money from the confidential funds and the political management kitty leaders use every weekend for empowerment-then direct the money to free basic education," he said. On Sunday, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's allies were stopped from holding a political rally in Kigumo by police officers who dispersed them using teargas, while goons who seemed to side with the police pelted stones at the government critics. "The government only wants its allies to hold political meetings as they are afraid we have the people behind us-it's a drawback to the democratic gains that our country has fought for," said former Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau. Health sector Gachagua has accused the government of misplaced priorities, saying that instead of improving the health and education sectors, it has opted to bribe Kenyans. He further alleged that monies have been diverted to strategic institutions to finance the programmes. "There is no money for capitation in our schools, and principals are subjected to a game of musical chairs by the government. They are torn between admitting auctioneers to settle unpaid bills or sending pupils home for levies. Our hospitals are mere shells, crippled by a failed healthcare system and hollow promises from the government," he said. Despite the criticism, pro-government leaders have defended the move, describing the programme as a well-thought-out initiative aimed at uplifting communities and enhancing government-citizen engagement. Kindiki said the programmes are tailor-made for mama mbogas and boda boda riders and will not stop any time soon. "Those criticising the empowerment programme are used to hoodwinking voters during campaigns but disappear once elected." But even as Kindiki continues dishing out handouts, a section of MPs from Mt Kenya allied to Ruto have devised a new strategy to counter the government's dwindling popularity. The strategy entails launching a community engagement programme at the grassroots level, where members of the public will be allowed to air their grievances against the Kenya Kwanza administration and vent frustrations toward their representatives in a forum expected to reconcile them with the electorate. Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri will lead the group and has been tasked with political messaging aimed at ending the hostility between the electorate and their representatives-believed to have been worsened by Gachagua's 'misinformation.' Kiunjuri said the grassroots meetings will allow their electorate to express themselves on various government policies and programmes, while elected leaders will respond in a bid to create common ground. "It's akin to retracing our footsteps and separating politics from development as we undo the misinformation that has made our people hostile to us," Kiunjuri noted. He said during the meetings, which will cascade to the ward level, the MPs will push the government agenda and highlight development projects being undertaken in the Mt Kenya region as they debunk the 'lies' spread by Gachagua and his allies. "It is evident that our people have been incited against us, but we shall take the opportunity to give our story-even as we enumerate water, market and tarmac road projects that have been watered down by reckless politics," Kiunjuri added.

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