Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has moved to defend the performance of President William Ruto in his first 100 days in office.
Mudavadi said Kenyans should put the first 100 days in the right perspective as they gauge the performance of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary explained that Ruto was ‘literally’ forming his government in the first 100 days.
“Do you want to count the first 100 days after the swearing-in of the President or do you want to count the day after the government is fully formed with Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries in place,” he posed.
Speaking during an interview with TV47 on Friday night, Mudavadi added that in most cases, new governments will first work on policies and legislations that will facilitate the fulfilment of promises.
“Kenyans should internalise the constitution dispensation that we are in. They should consider the process of forming a government. You nominate names which go to Parliament for vetting. Luckily with Cabinet Secretaries, nobody went to court,” he stated.
Mudavadi further pointed out that for Principal Secretary positions, people applied, names were shortlisted and then forwarded to Parliament but as vetting was going on, somebody went to court and the process was halted.
“Did we anticipate that somebody would go to court to challenge the list of PS nominees? Because we respect the rule of law, we paused the process,” he added.
“Let us put the matter in perspective when we ask the question of what has been achieved in the first 100 days.”
On Thursday, Azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga accused Ruto of failing to honour the promises he made to Kenyans during the campaign period.
He said Ruto's first 100 days in leadership have been full of unattained promises.
Raila accused Ruto's government of "pulling more Kenyans out of the frying pan and throwing them into the flames.”
"These have been 100 days on the road to nowhere. Kenyans are worse off than they were during the campaigns," he said in a statement.
Ruto marked his first 100 days in office on December 21, having been sworn into office at Moi International Sports Stadium Kasarani on September 13.
Ruto's key agenda that earned him the presidency revolved around the country's economic revival Ruto promised to reduce the rising cost of living but the majority of the president's pledges within 100 days, like cheap unga below Sh100, are yet to be fulfilled.
During his inauguration speech, Ruto ordered a reduction in fertiliser prices from Sh6,500 to Sh3,500 per 50kg bag.
He also directed the Kenya Ports Authority to revert operations from the inland container depots in Nairobi and Naivasha to Mombasa.
The President also recently launched Sh50 billion Hustlers Fund loan facility which is among the promises the Kenya Kwanza government has fulfilled.