President William Ruto has responded to criticism that his administration has been relaunching road projects initiated by previous governments, particularly during the Kibaki era.
While speaking in Turkana County on Tuesday during the laying of the foundation stone for Turkana University students’ hostels, Ruto indirectly responded to Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who had accused him of rebranding old projects as new government initiatives.
Ruto dismissed the claims as baseless without naming Kalonzo, asserting that certain opposition leaders were misinformed and insufficiently informed about government operations.
“I heard one of them say I’ve been launching roads he did while in government. He even corrected me, saying he served for 40 years, not 50. My question is, how many years does he need to do a single project? Clearly, these issues are beyond his understanding,” Ruto said.
The President went on to criticise the state of infrastructure in Kalonzo’s own backyard, questioning his ability to lead development efforts when basic roads in his constituency remain unpaved, despite his decades-long service in the government.
“How do you campaign for development when the road to your own home is still dusty?” he posed.
Ruto specifically addressed claims about the Kibwezi-Mbondoni road, stating that the project was executed during the Jubilee administration when he served as Deputy President.
“That road doesn’t belong to you. Neither did you launch it. We have the facts, look for someone else to lie to, not Kenyans,” he said.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to transparent infrastructure development and urged critics to acknowledge ongoing work instead of politicising projects.
Kalonzo, on Monday, accused Ruto of solely relying on the road projects to make political forays into his region, something which he has in the past said were blackmail attempts to discredit him politically.
“Ruto was in Kiambu, where he made me the subject instead of worshipping. He was talking about me and my home area, saying there are no roads,” he said.
“He said I have been in governance and leadership for 50 years. I will correct him; it’s 40 years.”
The former vice president emphasised that his decades in public service included major infrastructure initiatives in Kitui and the broader region.
“The 40 years were of serious experience. When I was vice president, I launched the construction and got a Chinese contractor, Sinohydro, to build the road,” Kalonzo explained.
