Hello Millennial Readers, 

The year 2022 has been exciting with many recognizable events. However, on my part, I believe that the August 2022 General Election was a major one as it indicated the state of political growth in the nation. Even though it was disputed, we never saw any form of violence arising in any part of the country responding to the election and court rulings. The transition has perhaps been one of the smoothest that the country has ever had.

Our new government has already been established, with the President appointing cabinet secretaries and heads of various bodies such as DCI and the National Police Service. In this article, I will highlight some of the key moments and decisions that the President has made.

Key Highlights

  1. Ruto’s appointment of the Six Rejected judges of the Court of Appeal

This was perhaps one of the first executive actions that the President took immediately after inauguration. During the ceremony, he promised to ensure judiciary independence, increase their budget, and appoint the Six Judges the Former President had rejected. Ruto appointed Weldon Korir Kipyegon, Aggrey Otsyula Muchelule, George Vincent Odunga, and Joel Mwaura Ngugi to the Court of Appeal bench. He also appointed Evans Kiago Makori and Judith Elizabeth Omange Cheruiyot to the Environment and Land Court. The former CJ David Maraga graced the event.

  1. Ruto’s Speech at the UN

The President then represented the country at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States. In his speech, he talked about reviving the world economy, supporting drought-affected nations, the importance of agriculture, ocean, and blue economy, and suspension or rescheduling of debt repayments by middle-income countries during the pandemic recovery period.

  1. Appointment of the Parliament Leadership

The President also took control of both houses of the parliament, with his Kenya Kwanza side winning the National Assembly and Senate speaker leadership. Even though the events were marred with controversies, decisions were made that saw Honorable Wetangula and Honorable Amos Kingi taking the speaker position in those houses, respectively. Another major issue noted was the determination of the majority in parliament with the decision, yet again favouring the President’s party.

  1. Appointment of Cabinet

Another major event has marked the complete transition of the current government. We saw the President meeting with the former cabinet members as they waited to usher in new leaders in their dockets. President William named his cabinet nominations on Tuesday, September 27, two weeks after his inauguration on August 13. President Ruto retained just the Labour and Social Protection CS, Simon Chelugui, from the cabinet of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Sadly, Honorable Balala didn’t make it this time tough. The President was sure to award his loyal partners with these lucrative positions. The next step will be the vetting of the nominees by Parliament members.

  1. President’s Homabay Visit

We also saw the President visit Homa Bay, regarded as a strong holder for his key competitor in the just concluded election, the Former Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga.   Even though the current Governor, Gladys Wanga, did not attend, she warmly welcomed the President. The President went further to promise goodies to the people of the county. This brings hope that he is the nation’s President, not just for those who voted for him.  

  1. Millions to be Removed from CRB List

The President promised to remove Kenyans from CRB regarding the “Hustler” economic approach. It is reported that more than four million loan defaulters will be removed from Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) blacklists under President William Ruto’s proposed credit market reforms.

  1. Ruto’s Visit to Tanzania

According to President Ruto, the bilateral talks focused on strengthening ties between Kenya and Tanzania, especially ways the two nations might benefit from easing trade restrictions. He promised to figure out how to eliminate the remaining 14 trade barriers between Kenya and Tanzania.

  1. Ruto’s Visit to Uganda

Ruto also visited Uganda to attend the country’s celebration of its 60th year of independence. Both leaders even shared photos of their meeting at State House, Entebbe. However, Uganda’s visit was also prompted by a threat from Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who talked of “taking over” Kenya’s capital. Nothing has since been mentioned with regard to this but Ruto shared a tweet stating that “The Kenya – Uganda bond is growing stronger.” 

Looks like our president has been a very busy man, and quite the tourist if I may add. We look forward to seeing what all these amount to as his term progresses.

Until Next Time

Fabian ✌✌✌