STATE OF THE NATION: THE WAY FORWARD

STATE OF THE NATION: THE WAY FORWARD

By David K. Maraga, UGM co- party leader and Presidential flag bearer, delivered at Ufungamano House, Tuesday 16th June 2026

Fellow Kenyans, as many of you are aware, I am not a career politician. And even if I had any political ambitions, I would not start a political career at the age of 75. I spent 18 years in the Judiciary, as a Judge of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court as Chief Justice and the head of the Judicial arm of government. I have come to this political space because of an urgent national need.

After deep reflection and extensive consultations, I acceded to the request of GenZ’s and of many other Kenyans to run for the President of the Republic of Kenya in the 2027 General Election to help call this country to order.

At independence, our founding fathers cherished a dream. A dream of a Kenya free from three major challenges—Poverty, Ignorance, and Disease—that had held its people down for generations. A Kenya where honest labor would sustain every family, and a Kenya where every citizen could look to tomorrow with hope.

Driven by greed, our leaders have over the years betrayed that vision and turned our country into a feeding trough for themselves, their families, and their associates. As a result, sixty-three years after independence, we are still grappling with those very same afflictions, now compounded by mass youth unemployment, deepening inequality, and extreme poverty.

Soon after independence, Kenya’s political elites embraced an Extractive System of government in which a small cabal use their positions to loot public resources at the expense of the ordinary citizen.

Today, under William Ruto, that extractive system has become a full-blown criminal enterprise. Across virtually every public sector, the President, his cabinet, top officials in government, and corrupt businessmen have turned government into their own business. They have created programmes like SHA, Affordable Housing, PPPs, as well as G-to-G importation of fuel, and embarked on Mega Construction Projects to steal through companies they own with their proxies.

With the enactment of our 2010 Constitution, that extractive system has now devolved to counties. Governors, members of county executives, and MCAs are awarding tenders to their own companies and constructing roads that wash away at the first rain.

Rather than performing their oversight roles, too many Senators and members of the National Assembly are extorting governors and county officials whose hands are caught in the till.

As a result, the country is losing billions to corruption, as regularly confirmed by the Auditor General’s reports. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers estimates that approximately 3 billion shillings is stolen every single day and nothing happens to the culprits.

The level of looting has risen astronomically since 2013. One of the methods the looters have employed is borrowing. At the end of his administration, Kibaki left public debt at 1.77 trillion shillings. However, through reckless borrowing, public debt, most of which is odious debt, has since risen to nearly 13 trillion shillings with the result that domestic borrowing has mopped liquidity out of the local market and thus ruined private enterprise. Out of the annual budget of 4.8 trillion shillings in the 2026/27 financial year, 2.3 trillion shillings equivalent to 48% of the national budget, will go to loan repayment.

Besides the regular borrowing, the Ruto regime has also resorted to securitization. Securitization is borrowing on the security of future tax revenues. That is mortgaging the future of the Kenyan youth who are currently unemployed without their consent. This is contrary to the principles of public finance, including inter-generational equity enshrined in Article 201 of our Constitution.

THE UKATIBA CARAVAN: WHAT WE HEARD

That is why on 2nd February this year, together with energetic young people and members of the United Green Movement Party, I embarked on a county-to-county tour of this country under the banner of the Ukatiba Caravan. Our mission was twofold: first, to listen directly to you Kenyans to understand your aspirations and frustrations. Secondly, to encourage and sensitize Kenyans, especially the youth, to register as voters.

The Caravan took us to every corner of this land. By 28th April 2026, we had traversed 43 of Kenya's 47 counties. I am happy that our efforts, alongside other campaigns such as the youth-led #TukoKadi movement, contributed to over 2.6 million Kenyans registering as new voters.

We met farmers and pastoralists. We sat with women in markets and men at jua kali sheds. We listened to boda boda operators at dusty stages and fisherfolk on the shores of our lakes. We encountered ordinary Kenyans fighting every single day, with great dignity, to put food on the table. What we heard and saw filled us with immense pride. Our people have refused to surrender to despair despite the grinding conditions they have been plunged into. That resilience is the true character of this nation.

But we also heard stories that should trouble every person of conscience. From major cities to the smallest rural markets in every county we visited, Kenyans singled out five painful realities with remarkable consistency:

Disregard for the rule of law; State capture and endemic corruption; A ravaged economy; Youth unemployment; and The collapse of service delivery, particularly in health and education.

Disregard for the Rule of Law

Wananchi told us plainly that government officials, from the presidency down to the lowest administrative levels, have no respect for the law. They cherry-pick which provisions of the Constitution to implement and to what extent. They recalled with grief the killing and maiming of young Kenyans during the Gen Z protests of June and July 2024 and told us what those events confirmed: that the political class has little regard for human life; that court orders are ignored with impunity; that some government documents, including title deeds, are not worth the papers they are printed on; and that basic social services, especially healthcare and education, have broken down.

State Capture and Endemic Corruption

Throughout the counties we visited, wananchi were clear: corruption has reduced them to desperate beggars in their own country. The extractive system has stripped millions of Kenyans of their dignity and their humanity, to the point where Mzee Ombui Orandi, a man nearly one hundred years of age, was trampled to death in Kisii while scrambling for two-hundred-shillings from a local MP during President Ruto's recent visit to the region. Two hundred shillings. That is what a Kenyan elder's life was worth that day. That is the depth to which we have fallen.

At one of our stops, a visibly angry man was handed a microphone and asked what he would like the Maraga government to do for Kenyans. He uttered just two words: “Funga Ruto”.

A Ravaged Economy and a Crushing Cost of Living

Wananchi told us that businesses have closed because there is no money in circulation. With the escalation of fuel prices, many people could not understand how it is possible for fuel to cost less in Uganda than in the country through which it is transported.

In Busia, boda boda operators told us they are buying petrol in jerricans through panya routes from Uganda where it is cheaper. In Marsabit, we met two young boda boda operators who had taken fuel on credit in the morning but had earned nothing by late afternoon.

Youth Unemployment

In Kiriaini Centre in Muranga, a young man told us openly, in the presence of uniformed policemen, that he was tired of a life of stealing. He said he wants an opportunity to make an honest living. In literally all towns and shopping centres we visited, many youths were disappointed, some even angry, that we had no handouts for them.

Kenya's youth constitute approximately 75% of the country’s population. Every year, approximately 1.2 million of them graduate from our institutions of higher learning and enter a labour market that cannot absorb them.

Fellow Kenyans, our country is squandering a huge demographic dividend. If employed and properly deployed, Kenya's youth will transform our economic and social landscape. But if we continue normalizing political violence and turning our unskilled youth into political goons, we endanger our national security and it is only a matter of time before we descend into anarchy. That is not a future any of us would wish for.

The Collapse of Health and Education

Despite the mandatory provisions of Article 43 of our Constitution, the looting of public resources has caused the collapse of healthcare and education, among other services. In virtually every county we visited, we encountered the dire consequences of a healthcare system in freefall. Hospitals have no medicines or basic essential supplies. SHA is not working. Families are being forced to sell land, often their only asset, to pay hospital bills. In cases of those with nothing to sell, mothers are dying at home while giving birth.

Education is the engine of national development. I know this from personal experience. Coming from a poor family, free education was the key that unlocked my future. Our education sector is in a deplorable and dysfunctional state, not because of lack of resources but because a large portion of the education budget is being stolen, and because the CBC, now CBE, has been implemented with reckless haste.

The recent Kenya National Examination Council report that 73.2% of Grade 3 learners failed to attain minimum proficiency in mathematics, and that 58.9% are struggling with basic English, should cause all of us to freeze with rage. Cognizant of the fact that some of these are our future doctors, architects and structural engineers, how can we gamble with our children’s future and that of our nation? And yet, our Constitution guarantees every Kenyan citizen inherent dignity (Article 28 of, and Article 55c), and requires the State to take concrete measures, including affirmative action, to ensure our youth access employment.

These are the truths we gathered on the Ukatiba Caravan. They are not opinions. They are the lived realities of Kenyans who spoke to us with raw honesty and quiet courage. We have no choice but to change. We need to reset, restore and rebuild our country.

Fellow Kenyans, sixteen years ago, we gave ourselves one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. A pact to decisively break from the neo-colonial extractive system and build a republic anchored on social justice, prosperity, and human dignity. But that has not come be.

RESET: RETURN TO CONSTITUTIONALISM

We must reset this country to order by reconstituting our governance system in strict adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law. If elected, I will dedicate my presidency to dismantling the culture of impunity. No one will be above the law. Not the president. Not the pauper. We must reverse the imperial presidency, where the president is considered as the sole provider of development.

My administration will not treat the Constitution as a suggestion. The Constitution will be our absolute command. We will implement it fully, professionalize the public service through meritocracy, and restore the independence of our institutions, including Parliament. Fraudulent schemes and corrupt procurements will end. And I mean it. Just give me five years.

RESTORE: RECLAIM OUR HUMANITY Our leadership has become rogue and uncaring. Under my leadership, we shall restore the humanity and dignity of the Kenyan people. Extra-judicial killings and unlawful detentions will end. There will be no sacred cows. All criminal suspects will be prosecuted in accordance with our Constitution and applicable laws.

[34] Ladies and gentlemen, Kenya is not an island. We must have and maintain friends in the community of nations. But we will guard our sovereignty and our hard-won independence from erosion by vestiges of colonialism. We shall engage with the world in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, respecting international treaties and norms that foster regional integration, international cooperation, human rights, and good governance.

Our battered image as a repressive state and client of foreign interests must change. Kenyan passports issued to criminals will be revoked. Our sisters and brothers in the diaspora, who make immense contributions to this country's economy and social fabric, will be accorded full rights as equal citizens of our motherland.

REBUILD: REVIVE OUR ECONOMY

Fixing our economy begins with getting our governance right. From agriculture to tourism and from mining to manufacturing, we must leverage modern technology and professional expertise to address what ails our economic foundations.

Agriculture, which is the mainstay of our economy, will be a priority of my presidency. Extension services must reach our farmers. Farm inputs will be affordable, and where appropriate, subsidies shall be provided. The governance failures afflicting the tea and coffee sectors must be corrected. The devastation caused to our rice farmers in Mwea and Western Kenya sugar cane farming by the prioritisation of imports over local produce must be reversed.

Fellow Kenyans, it is public knowledge that a number of companies have closed operations in Kenya and relocated, some to neighboring countries. The business executives we spoke to on the Ukatiba Caravan were unequivocal: this government has made Kenya impossible for competitive business. Factory owners told us that no meaningful manufacturing can be sustained without a drastic reduction in the cost of energy.

One fuel operator showed us more than ten licenses required to start a single business in this country. Others told us they regularly pay protection money to police and provincial administration officials. This is not a business environment. It is a hostage situation.

No country can advance without innovation and manufacturing. My government will leverage artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to expand opportunities for our youth, who are digital natives already ahead of the curve. I shall stop or drastically reduce borrowing (especially local borrowing) and institute urgent reforms in business licensing, taxation, and energy supply to spur manufacturing (including development of cottage industries) and incentivize small and medium enterprises.

ZERO TOLERANCE TO CORRUPTION

We will protect our minerals and other resources and secure the future of our children. We cannot be a country (according to a recent Oxfam report,) in which 125 billionaires hold wealth equivalent to what 43 million Kenyans combined own; where more than 15 million youths are unemployed and cannot even afford airtime, while public officials with no known sources of income flaunt obscene wealth before the very people they have robbed. That must end.

Throughout the Ukatiba Caravan, Kenyans demanded leadership with integrity. This is a lifelong value I embrace. Because the president is a trustee of public resources, I believe I am well placed to end the cartels and corruption networks in government and recover stolen public resources. I have never been associated with any corruption scandal. I am ready to declare my assets under oath and give a full accounting of how I acquired each piece. I challenge every presidential aspirant, starting with President Ruto, to do the same and account for everything they and their proxies own.

Fellow Kenyans, this is my personal pledge to you: I will not steal from you, or allow my family, my friends, or those I will appoint to serve with me, to steal from you. For me, zero tolerance to corruption is not a slogan. It will be the governing standard of my administration. I will empower the investigative and prosecutorial agencies including EACC, the DCI, and the ODPP to carry out their mandates without political or executive interference. I will ensure that the Judiciary has what it needs to effectively do its part.

If we succeed in confronting impunity and recovering stolen assets, we will reduce the cost of living. This will enable us to, provide for our healthcare, educate our children and build a governance system that finally works for all citizens.

THE TIPPING POINT

Fellow Kenyans, please hear me out. To fundamentally reform our governance, we must reject ethnic balkanization, come together and vote as one nation. However, removing Ruto and his cabal is not enough. The next government must not be a mere game of musical chairs - the "same monkeys in a different forest" taking their "turn to eat".

I believe in opposition unity. This opposition unity must be built on a convergence of values and not appetites. We need to unite under the rule of law and permanently ensure no future leader can weaponize state power to loot public resources, kill our children, or silence dissent.

[47] The 2027 general election will therefore be a defining moment. It will be a make-or-break election. It will be the Ukombozi election. We must liberate ourselves from the chains Ruto has shackled us with. Take it from me, if Ruto is re-elected or anyone who espouses his value system takes the reigns of this country, that will be catastrophic.

WHAT WE MUST DO

Fellow Kenyans, Kenya is a rich country. We are an intelligent and resilient people. We are athletic champions. Kenyan academicians and professionals shine on the global stage. We cannot and must not allow our motherland to descend into anarchy. We have the power to save it. We have the power to put in place an accountable government, responsive to the plight of the Kenyan people. A government that believes in constitutionalism and the rule of law.

It is time to stop dreaming about the Kenya we deserve and start building it. Time to start living in the Kenya of our cherished imagination and enjoy our nationhood as a free people. Time to liberate our country. Time for Ukombozi. We are coming to your county, your constituency, your ward, and your village to work with you to liberate ourselves. The journey to a new Kenya begins now.

[49] Will you join us? The dawn is here! It is time for our liberation. It is time for Ukombozi. Kumekucha God bless you. God bless Kenya.