NAIROBI, Kenya — Wiper Patriotic Front party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has strongly refuted recent criticisms launched by President William Ruto concerning his record on infrastructure development in his home area. The public exchange, which occurred as the leaders trade barbs over national development agendas, centers on Musyoka’s decades of public service.
Speaking at a public engagement on Monday, Musyoka asserted that President Ruto had deviated from his official agenda during a recent visit to Kiambu to focus his comments on the opposition leader personally.
“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.
Musyoka also corrected the President’s assertion regarding the length of his career:
“He said I have been in governance and leadership for 50 years. I will correct him, it’s 40 years.”
The former Vice President defended his decades in leadership, arguing that his tenure included the initiation of massive infrastructure projects that transcend regional boundaries. Musyoka specifically highlighted a major road project launched during his time in office.
“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. “The road runs from Kibwezi to Mutomo, to Kitui, to Mwingi, to Tseikuru to Maua. That road links Ethiopia with Mombasa.”
Musyoka’s response was aimed at remarks President Ruto made on Sunday, during which he accused the opposition leader of being a “naysayer” who actively campaigned against the government’s development plans.
President Ruto specifically challenged Musyoka’s authority to comment on national development, using the state of the road leading to Musyoka’s rural home as evidence of his failure to deliver during his long political career:
“There are those saying we can’t achieve all that I have announced. I want to tell them that they are the ones who can’t achieve anything. They have no plan. It would be unreasonable to wait for someone who has never developed his rural road,” the President said.
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Ruto intensified his critique by directly linking Musyoka’s local infrastructure record to his capacity for national planning:
“The road leading to his home is dusty and muddy, and he has been in power for decades. If he can’t develop his rural road, where will he get the smartness to plan development for Kenya? That is why they argue it is impossible, because they have never planned anything.”
The President made these remarks while defending his administration’s ambitious road construction agenda, which aims to build 28,000 kilometres of roads by 2032. He insisted that the plan is both realistic and essential for unlocking widespread economic growth.
“Just as we constructed 10,000km of roads during (former President) Uhuru Kenyatta’s 10-year-tenure, we are going to construct another 28,000kms by 2032,” Ruto concluded.
