State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed has addressed media reports and social media posts about President William Ruto re-launching and commissioning projects initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Hussein Mohamed in statement on Saturday, August 17, emphasized that President Ruto’s actions reflect his responsibility to complete all feasible projects, including those initially launched before his election but have stalled.
He noted that this commitment aligns with the pledges made in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, the document that supported Ruto’s election.
“So yes, during his development tours across the country, the President will continue to implement the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, including launching new projects, inspecting ongoing ones, and, where necessary, reviving and completing those that stalled before his election,” he noted.
“All for the benefit of the people!”
Hussein Mohamed Responds After Uproar
Many Kenyans have been asking why President Ruto seems to have gone full cycle relaunching some projects he had launched as deputy president.
Since the beginning of this August, Ruto’s developmental tours in the Coast, Mt. Kenya, and Western regions have featured the launch of projects that were previously inaugurated by the Jubilee administration, where Ruto served as Deputy President.
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Ruto on Wednesday, August 7, launched the Kanyuambora Irrigation Project in Mbeere North Constituency, Embu County in a function attended by top leaders in the area.
The project, however, was initially launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary, Sicily Kariuki, in 2021 before it stalled.
Projects Ruto has Re- Launched
Ruto on August 13 broke ground for the construction of the 76-bed Kisii Cancer Treatment Centre, valued at approximately Ksh3 billion, revealing that the funding was sourced during his visit to Saudi Arabia last year.
“This centre has stalled for a long time. But I went to Saudi Arabia last year and we agreed with the Saudi government that together with the Kenyan government we fund this project and build this cancer center of excellence,” Ruto said.
In 2019, former President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that his administration had borrowed Sh2 billion in 2017 from Saudi Arabia for the same facility.
“Two years ago (2017), my administration committed to mobilising resources for the establishment of four cancer centres of excellence in the country. I’m happy to say that Kisii will be the first beneficiary of this initiative. Indeed, the national government will invest approximately Ksh2 billion in this facility. We borrowed this money, and it must be paid,” Uhuru said.
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The following year, Ongwae witnessed the signing of the loan agreement between the National Treasury and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea), led by its President and Director General of the Saudi Fund for Development, Yousif Ibrahim Al Bassam, in Nairobi.
Another project President Ruto re-launched was the construction of an interchange at Daraja Mbili in Kisii town, which was initially billed as a game changer for improving infrastructure in the region.
The project was first launched on June 3, 2016, by senior officials from the State Department of Transport, Infrastructure and Housing Development who handed it over to the contractor.
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