- The President is also mainstreaming sports and creative sectors in transforming the country's sociopolitical landscape.
- He is keen to tap into the digital era by twinning the US's Silicon Valley and Konza Technocity—the Silicon Savannah!
Image: PSC
As President William Ruto returns home to take stock of his successful and historic four-day state visit to the US, I see a new dawn beckoning on the horizon—an era of socioeconomic, political and technological transformation.
In recent years, the country has suffered the narrative of doom and despair, characterised by toxic ethnicity and the shameless antics of a rapacious political elite.
However, his assumption of office has brought about stability and progress. Despite facing various challenges, he is steering the country towards economic recovery and growth.
He is now firmly steering the ship, determined to avoid the treacherous waters of crippling debt and other socioeconomic and political schisms that often befall us, especially at every electoral cycle.
With President Ruto leading the country, Kenya is becoming a technological and economic powerhouse in Africa. His investments in the economy, education, security and technology are driving our progress. It's a monumental time for our country that we should all applaud and support.
The head of state's high-profile visit to Washington was a significant diplomatic victory–it refocused attention on Kenya, the region and Africa. Above all, it solidified our position as an anchor state in the region—and will hopefully return Kenya to the good old days as a leader in the Horn of Africa region and beyond. Our peacekeeping and peacemaking credentials speak for themselves.
I believe it is important to view the Haiti mission, which is noble, not only through this prism but also through the advancement of the global Africa agenda that unites all Africans across the globe.
It's disheartening that instead of supporting the President's efforts, some Kenyans engage in negative talk. For example, the debate about the cost of the hired jet versus using Kenya Airways is far-fetched. However, financial experts, including the respected Car and Aircraft Expert, hold a contrary view.
I appreciate the President's comprehensive approach–a 360-degree strategy—to balancing personality and ethnicity in politics with economic and social development.
Unlike his predecessor, President Mwai Kibaki, a genius economist who triggered admirable economic growth in the country but failed to manage politics, he is facing both squarely. He is working with Raila Odinga, the country's de facto political mover and shaker with solid democratic and pan-Africanism credentials, thus embracing political inclusivity, a key element that has eluded us for decades.
The economic prosperity that Kibaki had achieved vanished during the political fallout of 2007-08.
In an attempt to avoid the "curse," Uhuru Kenyatta, his successor, employed political inclusivity with mixed outcomes, strengthening his relationship with Raila but alienating his allies, such as then Deputy President Ruto and others.
The President is also mainstreaming sports and creative sectors in transforming the country's sociopolitical landscape. He is keen to tap into the digital era by twinning the US's Silicon Valley and Konza Technocity—the Silicon Savannah!
This is a splendid dream for Kenyan youth to employ their creativity to innovate, create job opportunities and provide digital solutions to our fatigued analogue approach to economic and technological prosperity.
The deals he inked for grants and scholarship exchange linkages for science, mathematics and technology studies will boost capacity building and skills transfer at university and mid-level learning.
We all must support the President as he climbs the ladder to become a key figure spearheading the interests of Kenya, East Africa, the Horn of Africa region and Africa.
He speaks for Africa, and the world is listening to his messages on climate change, the debt burden, intra-continental trade, reforms of the African Union and Africa's place on the global scene.
Locally, he is ensuring food security and sovereignty by improving and resourcing agriculture. He is also squarely facing the endemic urban housing problem through the housing project.
To succeed, those he has entrusted with positions of responsibility must not fall victim to the intoxicating allure of power that manifests in arrogance, opulence, ethnic mobilisation, empty sloganeering and corruption.
They must strive to serve the public with humility that connects them to the fears, hopes and aspirations of wananchi.
The future is bright—but we must not dim it with negative energy and talk. To harmonise our thinking and vision, we all need to have a dialogue with ourselves as individuals, communities and country to reawaken the spirit of patriotism, which is the glue to fix the many broken parts of our socioeconomic and political fabric.
President Ruto has the vision, focus and passion to deliver on his election plan. He is thinking, speaking and acting out of the box. And under his leadership, we can begin to re-imagine a new socioeconomic and political future for Kenya.
Former Football Federation of Kenya president