Master of double speak: Ruto masks flaws, turns heat on MPs over corruption

President William Ruto lead Cabinet Secretaries and senior Government officials during the 3rd National Executive Retreat on June 19, 2025. [Jonah Onyango,Standard] President William Ruto yesterday turned the heat of corruption on MPs, masking the flaws of his own administration with hypocritical claims and demonstrating his resolve to revamp devolution by signing two bills into law. In a day that the President highlighted key achievements of his administration in counties and rolled out fresh programs to strengthen devolved units, Ruto admitted to a widespread corruption in the Senate and in the National Assembly. He vowed to crack down on the vice and stated that no external influence or 'powers from above' will protect corruption victims from escaping justice. The claim, however, comes at a time when a section of critics have accused him of weaponizing government entities against his opponents as his allies enjoy state protection. In his speech, he projected an image of a government that is bravely tackling all the thorns that has pricked the country's economy including corruption in government, timely disbursement of funds to counties, streamlining of e-citizen, guaranteeing the independence of public institutions and new reforms to strengthen counties. He also claimed that his administration has invested heavily to ensure that the principles of democracy, human rights and social justice is achieved through accountable, transparent and responsive governance. Some of his projections, however, is a stark contrast of what his administration has been implementing, including the mass violation of human rights through the killing of protestors as well as governors' past cries of delayed disbursement of funds for counties. Interestingly, the president declared that all funds for the month of July was disbursed to counties on Tuesday this week, a day before he delivered his speech to the counties that have been struggling to deliver services over claims of starved funding from the exchequer. The president fingered legislators of being of embedding corruption in key government institutions that are critical in the country's governance. "There is something going on in our legislature that we must talk about. There is money demanded from governors, cabinet secretaries and other people in the executive, especially those who appear before their oversight committees for accountability," Ruto said. He claimed Senators and Members of the National Assembly extort money from governors and cabinet secretaries and other members of the Executive arm of the government whenever they appear before committees. According to Ruto, the bribe is solicited to ensure the leaders are granted a favourable report after the hearings. Ruto expressed dismay that the same legislators who are supposed to be in the frontline in the fight against corruption had become the perpetrators. Despite his claims, a section of Kenyans have been faulting the two houses of being houses of disrepute that have failed to protect the public from the Executive's controversial proposals and have been dancing to his tunes. "It is not acceptable that committees of parliament demand to be bribed, demand to be paid, to write report or to look the other way from what is happening in the national government or a county government," Ruto said. He also criticised the Judiciary for being an impediment in the fight against corruption by protecting corruption suspects by issuing anticipatory bail. Ruto said issuance of the bail gives corruption perpetrators confidence of evading legal action after committing the crime, describing the constitutional provision as backward. "I want to appeal to the Judiciary not to be a haven for corrupt people to hide behind judicial decisions. The anticipatory bail prevents us from facing the law. How does it help in the fight against corruption?" Ruto asked. The president also declared that his administration had put in place measures to strengthen devolution and has honoured its commitment of timely disbursement of equitable revenue shares to the devolved units. And as part of his efforts to strengthen the counties, the president also announced that he had assented to two crucial bills that will transform how counties operate. The president signed into law the County Allocation of Revenue Bill and the County Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, days after both measures passed in the National Assembly and the Senate. The County Allocation of Revenue Bill increases the shareable revenue for counties from Sh387.4 billion in the previous financial year to Sh415 billion. It also outlines how the equitable share will be distributed among the 47 counties in line with the approved revenue-sharing formula. "We have increased the equitable share of revenue to Sh415 billion among our 47 Counties, representing a rise of almost Sh30 billion from the previous financial year's Sh387.4 billion," said Ruto. The President said the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2025, which he assented to, distributes the equitable share among the 47 counties in strict adherence to the revenue sharing formula set out in Article 217 of the Constitution. "This is not just more money; it is a stronger foundation for counties to deliver, develop, and transform lives," he said. Ruto also said his administration has transferred the 14 outstanding devolved functions to counties, aligning them with the requisite funding. "This milestone has eliminated decades-old ambiguities that hampered service delivery and fuelled inter-governmental disputes," he said. He explained that full transfer of devolved functions will empower county governments to design and implement programmes that respond directly to local needs. Additionally, in another effort to strengthen counties, he stated that his administration had gazetted immovable assets, including land and buildings, for transfer to and ownership of the counties. President Ruto said he had assented to the County Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which amends the Public Finance Management Act to provide for the establishment of a County Assembly Fund in each county. He also claimed that his administration has managed to improve transparency through the e-citizen platform that has tackled corruption and boosted public confidence in government services. According to the president, the platform has reduced wastage, closed revenue leakages, and boosted collections while making transactions more transparent and accountable. However, despite his claim, MPs barely six days ago had demanded an explanation on claims that about Sh11 billion was unaccounted for through the platform. The suspected mysterious disappearance of funds had been flagged by the Office of the Auditor General. During the opening of the event, claims of rampant corruption, persistent wrangles at the county assembly, poor governance, power struggles between counties and the national government emerged as a critical thorn pricking the implementation of devolution. Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said corruption in counties erodes public trust and urged all stakeholders to work together to strengthen devolution. He noted that power struggles and the overealiance on the exchequer is affecting the implementation of devolution. "We have had wrangles, for example, in Nyamira where at one point we had two parallel assemblies," he said. Other leaders who attended the fete described devolution as a vehicle that is capable of transforming the country. Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga said collaborations with the national government had opened windows of opportunity and growth for her devolved unit. In his speech, Senator Moses Kajwang said counties are not payroll stations but are entities that are meant to transform lives, while promising to continue offering constructive criticisms to governors. "We will continue to fight for more resources for counties because that money is not for the people," he said. Earlier on, Migori Governor Ochillo Ayacko had lamented that counties were strained of resources, adding that the funds they receive is not enough to build roads. "In Migori, for instance, we need at least Sh10 billion for roads alone," he said during a panel discussion. The event has attracted over 11,000 attendees who had registered with the Council of Governors by yesterday.

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