An Irredeemable Presidency: A New Hope

August 19, 2025

When President William Ruto stood before the country and accused Members of Parliament of demanding money from governors, ministers, and other state officers appearing before them, he cracked open a door that those in power usually keep firmly shut.

It was an extraordinary admission. But it cannot stand alone. If the President can publicly point fingers at Parliament, then he must also open himself to the same scrutiny. Kenyans will not accept a one-sided anti-corruption gospel that spares the pulpit while condemning the pews.

The most diabolical bribing of MPs in Kenya’s history was orchestrated by Ruto himself in order to impeach his own Deputy. Public reports from MPs themselves bear this out. The burden of proof is on the President to reject the confessions of the MPs’ first-person account of how he bribed them.

Kenya’s president bribes Parliament when he needs to use them as a pitchfork for his dark maneuvers, then insults and dismisses these same MPs when he has no use for them. In the mythos of grand political bribes and betrayals, Brutus has nothing on Ruto.

While the nation is tired of the corruption narrative, it would be a disservice to Kenyans if we do not keep memory alive. Large sums of money lie at the center of bribing MPs who agree to be coopted into a game of betraying their own people. It is these same disappeared large amounts that result in the deepening poverty of millions.

Where does the “Empowerment” money come from? The President, his Deputy, Kithure Kindiki, and other allies have been on a spending spree, dishing out what they call “empowerment funds” in markets, schools, and churches. Yet nowhere in the national budget is there a clear line item allocating such billions for discretionary political giveaways.

What about the KSh 44.8 billion reportedly stolen from the eCitizen platform? Or the millions of shillings wired to ghost schools that do not exist on the ground? Or the billions of shillings swallowed in “renovations” of government offices and State House facilities?

These are not mere accounting errors. They are large-scale thefts of public resources that divert funds away from essential services and into a massive political patronage machine.

President Ruto has no moral authority to lecture Parliament on corruption while sidestepping these scandals. The Kenyan people deserve a full accounting of where their money has gone and who has pocketed it.

Real leadership means submitting yourself to the same rules you expect others to follow. Knowing that this will not happen with President Ruto, there remains a path to redeeming his image in the remaining days in the office. This is what he must implement:

First: Budget Transparency. Identify the budget line funding the so-called “empowerment” cash handouts and provide a full accounting of expenditure and beneficiaries.

Second: Action on Mega Scandals. Order investigations into the eCitizen theft, ghost school payments, and billions in unexplained renovations, with results made public.

Third: Reinstate Corruption Cases. Reverse the discontinuation of graft cases from the Uhuru era and remove from office all individuals previously implicated until cleared by the courts.

Fourth: Equal Accountability Across Government. Extend the same anti-corruption drive to the executive, judiciary, and parastatals, not just parliament.

A new hope can begin at the point where rejected leadership chooses to hand over the baton peacefully. Kenya has crossed this Rubicon before. When Daniel arap Moi’s presidency later turned into a brutal dictatorship and was subsequently rejected by the people, he handed over power to Mwai Kibaki peacefully.

This country does not need to wait for a general election to bring in this new hope. It is time for President Ruto to hand over the leadership baton peacefully to an incoming leadership that will reset the nation back to the ideals of the people’s Constitution.