President William Ruto ushered in the New Year at an interdenominational religious service held at State House, Mombasa on Saturday, December 31.
The president’s new year’s address was preceded by prayers led by senior religious leaders from both the Islamic and Christian faiths.
In his new year’s speech, President Ruto stated that notwithstanding the various challenges, many Kenyans were able to persevere the storm and witness the ushering in of 2023.
“In the foundation of uniting people and fostering peace, I want to assure Kenyans that I and all other leaders will work tirelessly to ensure that we are united as a country,” said President Ruto.
Similarly, the president noted that he will not shy away from making difficult but unpopular decisions throughout the year as long as they benefit Kenyans and positively contribute to bettering Kenya’s economy.
“When I came into office, I had to make difficult decisions about our economy because we were not doing well and we need to change the foundation of our economy and this will not change,” said the president.
The head of state also said that he had ordered police to accord elected leaders, with different political affiliations, with the same level of respect as their Kenya Kwanza counterparts.
Moreover, the president’s address also touched on Kenya’s current economic woes.
He highlighted that his administration had to do away with maize flour, fuel, and electricity subsidies since they would not better the economy eventually.
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“We had to do away with those subsidies because they would cost our economy big time. We would be spending up to Ksh. 25 billion every month to subsidize some of the programs that were set out” he said.
Ruto noted that the economy’s trajectory is moving in the right direction.
According to the president, Kenya’s dependency on foreign debts will reduce significantly if they build the economy from the bottom.
He then added that the State will use taxpayer’s cash to roll out new projects for the benefit of Kenyans.
Furthermore, Dr. Ruto noted that the national government in tandem with the 47 county governments intends to construct over 20,000 affordable houses for Kenyans this year in a bid to address Kenya’s housing deficit.
