By THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
President Willia Ruto has scheduled an open online interaction with the restive Gen Z population on the ‘X’ forum for today afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00pm. The engagement comes after Gen Z overwhelmingly trajected his initiative that sought to have them appoint representatives to a national forum that he had planned tp convene to discuss the issues.
Ruto’s move comes even after hundreds of youth remain blocked on his ‘X’ handle after previously appearing to be critical of his politics even before the 2022 elections. The managers of the handle, which is believed to have been set up by Dennis Itumbi, a former government propaganda agent, often blocked anybody they thought was critical of Ruto. Itumbi has recently found himself rendered irrelevant as the new agitation, which he has failed to influence, takes root and influences government agenda.
It is expected that thousands of citizens of all generations could log onto X, formerly known as Twitter, in an effort to hear the President speak first hand on the problems facing the country. Top on the list is the blatant corruption in his government and especially that of his ministers, some of who have bene involved in shady deals like importation of edible oils and exaggeration of road building costs. The public ha lately bene critical of the ostentatious behavior of some ministers like Kipchumba Murkomen and MP Oscar Sudi, who is believed to be acting at the behest o top government officials.
The President is also likely to be questioned on his adoption, without question, of IMF recommendations, which hurt local economies with a view to making them dependent on those of the shareholder nations of the IMF and World Bank. The policies of the two Bretton Woods institutions have been responsible for the aggravation of poverty and decline of industrial initiatives in Third World countries and only that have rejected or modified their policies have survived the often destructive policies. But Ruto, in what appears inexplicable but is thought to be kowtowing and pandering to foreign interests to gain personal favours, agreed to implement IMF policies without question or consideration of their impact on Kenya.
The country’s Budget, some of which is believed to be an effort to provide funding for corruption in the government, could also come under scrutiny
The Ruto administration has also been accused of practicing blatant tribalism, which has seen people from his Kalenjin tribes being appointed to almost all the top government positions in the country, which is inconsistent with their numbers. Ruto is accused of placing his tribesmen in critical parastatals, the army, police and government departments, which has resulted in control b a single tribe.
Although there has been a lot o ta about corruption, the Ruto administration has not acted on corruption in the counties, where governors have purchase huge properties and stolen huge sims of money to fund lavish lifestyles. IN the first year of the Ruto administration, governors have not undertaken any significant projects, although their lifestyles have changed and their wealth status is different.
On the economy, Gen Z will want to why Ruto, instead of building local industries, is keen on sending young Kenyans to Arabia, Europe and North America “to wash invalids” instead of working here at home. Ruto has been talking at several fora about finding jobs for the youth abroad while taxing local initiatives to extinction, which has not gone down well with the youth ho believe they can do a better job of growing the economy while working here at home.
Although the contentious Finance Bill 2024 has been dumped, Ruto could still be questioned on the taxes levied on Kenyans and what they do. It is believed that a ,0ot of tae end up going into the pockets of individuals in the government and private business who collude with top government officials to steal tax money through suspect or over priced projects. Unjustified and unnecessary taxation was the trigger of the youth revolt that resulted in the storming of Parliament s fortnight ago.