Nairobi — President William Ruto has appealed to allied lawmakers to champion his administration's development priorities to secure the realization of campaign pledges.
Speaking on Friday during the Kenya Kwanza Alliance Parliamentary Group meeting, Ruto said that he is ready to deliver on his promises because that is what formed the basis upon which he was elected.
He added that the sole purpose of the coalition's retreat was to outline his legislative agenda and agree on the execution of Kenya Kwanza's plan.
President Ruto also rallied coalition members to speedily approve his Cabinet once nominees are submitted in the National Assembly.
"This Parliamentary Group meeting is for us to interrogate our party manifesto, the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, because that is the basis upon which we were elected. We made commitments to the people of Kenya," he said.
Ruto noted his administration had already delivered on some commitments including the promise to appoint six judges left out by his predecessor following their recruitment by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
"I had made a commitment that we will appoint the six judges. We have appointed the six judges," he remarked.
The president also touched on his promise to grant the police service financial autonomy.
"We made a commitment that we will provide financial independence for the police, I already issued instructions and yesterday (Thursday) that was implemented by the Treasury."
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"Now henceforth the police will have an independent budget. They will not be begging for money from other offices," he stated.
Ruto talked about his housing plan, formerly a part of his predecessor's Big IV agenda, terming it as a must-do for his government as it is aimed at ensuring more affordable mortgages for even better houses.
"It will create millions of jobs for our young people. It will sort out for us our challenge of housing. Many people are living in deplorable conditions in slums and other informal settlements. We can give those people a decent house," he said.
He called upon elected officials to make necessary adjustments to the law so that the plan is implemented.
The Head of State also spoke about his plan on universal healthcare his commitment to actualize the promise he made to Kenyans about National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) reforms.
"How are we going to make it Sh300 for the lowest category and how are we going to graduate it so that instead of being a fixed amount people contribute in accordance with their incomes?" he posed as he welcomed legislators to explore modalities to implement the changes.
