President William Ruto has warned Kenyans against electing what he described as “fools” to the presidency, saying leadership is key to determining the country's success or failure.
Speaking to Kenyans in New York, Ruto said the country’s progress depends on the quality of its leadership rather than its natural resources.
“The one mistake we must never do is to elect a fool to be a President. Nawaomba kwa unyenyekevu. If we do not have the right leadership, tutakwama,” Ruto said.
The President also defended Kenya’s government-to-government (G-to-G) oil importation model, responding to remarks by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni concerning petroleum imports.
Ruto said Museveni’s comments referred to an incident that occurred seven years ago, adding that some of his critics had used the remarks to question Kenya’s fuel importation arrangements.
“President Museveni said something about importation of oil products seven years ago. I saw some people jumping and saying this G-to-G has a problem,” he said.
Ruto maintained that Kenya has a better fuel importation model, insisting that the system operates without brokers.
“We have the right model. Better than any other. Malawi and Burundi came to ask us how we are doing,” he said.
He challenged his critics to propose an alternative model if they had evidence that Kenya’s current system was ineffective.
The President also urged comparisons of the landed cost of petroleum products in Kenya and Uganda, arguing that Kenya's model offers competitive pricing.
“Check the landed cost of petrol products coming to Kenya and going to Uganda. Which one is cheaper? We have a better model than even what Uganda is using today,” he added.
