4 Uhuru's Projects That Were Altered by Ruto Regime

President William Ruto receives the instruments of power from President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 13, 2022.
President William Ruto (left) receives the instruments of power from his successor, Uhuru Kenyatta, (right) on September 13, 2022.
Kenyans.co.ke

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his successor William Ruto often clashed over the rollout of projects in the second half of the former’s regime.

Some of the flagship projects by the regime, including the launch of Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and Kazi Mtaani, attracted uproar from members of the public leading to heated exchanges during the campaign period.

Here are four mega projects that Ruto has altered in the three months since he took over the reigns.

  1. Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC)
Students carrying out projects in the CBC education system
Students carrying out projects in the CBC education system
File

For a better part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime, the Government was determined to roll out a new education curriculum marking a gradual departure from the popular-but-often-described-as-underwhelming 8-4-4 system.

By the time Ruto was taking over, CBC had attracted ire from both parents and critics alike over the financial burden it transfers to parents grappling with an already bloated cost of living.

Parents claimed that the system demanded too much of their time and exploited their resources.

When Ruto took over, however, he first set up a taskforce to review the system’s deficiencies whose findings recommended that Junior Secondary  should be domiciled in primary schools. Initially, it was to be handled by the high school infrastructure. 

The Prof Raphael Munavu-led taskforce also recommended the hiring of 30,000 new teachers and directed the Kenyan Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to construct laboratories in primary schools.

  1. Police Reforms

During his campaign period, President William Ruto had vowed to overhaul the police service after decrying rogue operations but the force and claiming that the state misused the officers to carry out illegal arrests.

Ruto and the then his running mate, now DP Rigathi Gachagua, claimed that Uhuru manipulated the police for political gain.

He argued that a secret unit had been formed within the service and was used to carry out extra-judicial killings.

In his first day in office, the Head of State the Head of State then made hair-raising directives including naming an acting Inspector General of Police and disbanding the then dreaded Special Service Unit (SSU) - an under-the-radar extension of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

  1. Police Finances

Before taking over the House on the Hill, President William Ruto had also taken issue with the management of Police finances.

The former Deputy President equated the Office of the President’s management the accounting of Police Service financials to muzzling their independence operations.

During his swearing in, Ruto noted that he had directed instruments conferring the financial powers to IG.

The announcement empowered the Police IG's office as the accounting officer of the National Police Service (NPS).

  1. Kazi Mtaani

To uplift the earnings of informal workers, former President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Kazi Mtaani program that earned beneficiaries daily wages of between Ksh400 and Ksh500.

The employees were tasked with manual work including cleaning the streets across major towns and clearing bushes among others.

The program was, however, marred with complaints arising from pay delays inconveniencing the workers leading to massive demonstrations.

When Ruto took over, overhauled the programme and replaced it with youths who will be employed to plant trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. On Jamhuri Day, the Head of State directed Nairobi County to start the hiring of 11,000 youth.

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Youth involved in unblocking of a drainage under the Kazi Mtaani program.
File
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