Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is bitter, jealous and envious of President William Ruto, this is according to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party.
In a lengthy statement signed by Chairperson Cecily Mbarire and Secretary-General Hassan Omar, the UDA Party accuses Uhuru of being undemocratic by not accepting that President Ruto won the 2022 Presidential Election against his wishes.
The President Ruto-led political outfit accused Uhuru of orchestrating “monumental and gigantic failures” during his 10-year reign, describing his administration as the worse compared to his peers.
“In many respects, you handed over one of the most broken governments in Kenya’s modern history,” the statement read.
UDA’s response comes a day after Uhuru — leading a Jubilee Party Delgates Conference in Kiambu — accused President Ruto’s administration of failing to address issues facing Kenyans.
Uhuru fell short of saying that President Ruto had failed to lead the nation even after he handed over power to him peacefully in September 2022, and that he should ask for help if that is indeed the case.
But in a rejoinder, UDA says that Uhuru should not dangle ‘I handed over power peacefully’ as a favour to President Ruto.
“You claim to have handed over power peacefully to William Ruto. Of course you did. You had no option. That is the beauty and finality of our constitutional democracy. But you handed over a collapsing economy, a suffocating public debt burden, broken institutions, demoralised sectors, and a country on the brink.”
The party says that President Ruto was able to stabilise Kenya’s economy through various unpopular interventions, and prevented the default disaster Uhuru’s administration had engineered.
“Mr. Kenyatta, you left behind an economy suffocated by debt and headed dangerously toward default. Kenya was surviving on expensive debt, runaway subsidies, and financial recklessness. Inflation was spiralling, investor confidence had collapsed, foreign reserves were under pressure, and the country was staring at economic ruin. What you handed over was not a functioning economy; it was a ticking time bomb.”
The party adds: “William Ruto inherited the wreckage your administration left behind and stabilised the country. Kenya did not default despite the economic landmines you left behind. Inflation has eased, interest rates are stabilising, confidence is gradually returning, and the economy has begun recovering from the destruction caused under your tenure. Mr. Kenyatta, cut Mr. Ruto some slack. He has spent the last three years cleaning up the mess you created in ten.”
UDA: Uhuru destroyed agriculture sector
The party also accuses Uhuru of destroying Kenya’s agricultural sector, which happens to be the backbone of Kenya’s ecobomy. UDA cites how fertiliser prices exploded to KSh7,500 per bag under Uhuru’s watch as a failure.
“Sugar factories collapsed into corruption and paralysis. Sugarcane farmers waited over a year for payments, while workers went for years without salaries. Coffee farmers were left at the mercy of cartels and exploitation, earning miserable returns of barely KSh50 per kilo.
“Today, William Ruto has revived the sector you nearly killed. Fertiliser has been subsidised to KSh2,500 per bag, maize production has significantly improved, coffee prices have tripled to KSh150 per kilo, sugar factories have roared back to life, and Kenya is steadily moving toward sugar self-sufficiency. The unga prices you left at KSh 250 per 2kg packet are now retailing at between KSh 120 and KSh 140 per 2kg packet.”
NHIF became a corruption pit
The party also accuses the former president of “failing spectarcularly” in terms of rolling out universal healthcare, overseeig the turning of the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) into a cash cow for cartels and corrupt Ministry of Health officials.
“By the time you left office, NHIF had only about 8 million active contributors and debts exceeding KSh32 billion. Your so-called Universal Health Coverage was a spectacular failure. The closest you came to even attempting universal healthcare was a mixture of tiptoeing, indecision, and convoluted experimentation disguised as pilot programmes in Kisumu, Nyeri, Machakos, and Isiolo counties. Shockingly, even this politically choreographed programme in the four counties was a spectacular failure.”
The party insists that President Ruto has been able to roll out the healtcare for all programme by introducing five landmark pieces of legislation that streamlined the health sector by replacing the “defective” NHIF law and provide a sound foundation for the delivery of universal healthcare through Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
“More than 31 million Kenyans have already been onboarded onto the Social Health Authority, with over KSh150 billion paid to hospitals and health facilities across the country in just 18 months for services rendered to Kenyans.”
Confused education sector
UDA says that President Ruto has since streamlined the Competency Based Education and Training (CBET), hired more than 100,000 teachers with 20,000 more set to be recruited this year, and has rolled out a new university funding model that supports trully needy students.
“Mr. Kenyatta, you also left behind confusion and collapse in the education sector. You imposed a curriculum that teachers, parents, and students barely understood, while universities were crippled by a broken funding model that pushed many to the brink of insolvency by 2022. Kenya was also left facing a shortage of more than 120,000 teachers after years of neglect and failed recruitment.”
The party has also lauded “brave” President Ruto for braving numerous challenges — including court battles and losing popularity among Kenyans — to roll out the noble affordable housing programme.
In just three years, President Ruto’s administration is constructing over 273,000 housing units across the country, and in turn created 640,000 jobs for young Kenyans.
“Mr. Kenyatta, you abandoned affordable housing out of cowardice, indecision, and political fear. You launched it for headlines, then ran away from it the moment resistance emerged. And by the way. President Ruto, too, faced resistance, rejection, court battles, ridicule, and relentless political attacks over the same project, but the difference is now clear: where you retreated, he advanced; where you hesitated, he acted decisively. Like many of your projects, your housing agenda became yet another monument of prevarication, hesitation, and incompetence.”
UDA also accused Uhuru of frastruating the dualling of the Mau Summit Road project which saton his desk for 10 years gathering dust, while Kenyans “suffered endless traffic, deaths, losses, and economic paralysis”.
“You could neither make a decision nor implement one. Your administration buried the project in bureaucracy, confusion, and questionable contracts. For an entire decade, all Kenyans got from you were excuses and endless announcements.”
President Ruto, in November 2025, launched the dualling of the 94-kilometre Gilgil–Nakuru–Mau Summit second construction site of the Rironi–Nakuru–Mau Summit (A8) Road, reaffirming the government’s commitment to delivering one of Kenya’s most transformative infrastructure projects.
This critical segment of the Northern Corridor is valued at USD 678.5 million and implemented under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) by Shandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering Co. Ltd, with completion targeted for 2027.
UDA also blew President Ruto’s trumpet, by asserting that the iconic Talanta City Stadium is now becoming a reality under his administration.
“And have you noticed the dozens of stadia coming up across the country? Under your leadership, they remained mere promises. Today, they are becoming reality. Are you aware that the Bomas International Convention Centre project, something successive administrations, including yours, failed to properly conceptualise or develop, is finally taking shape?
“These are the kinds of legacy projects your administration talked endlessly about, but never delivered.”
The ruling party is also accusing President Ruto of hypocrisy in the fuel prices debate, citing how fuel prices also skyrocketed during his tenure, and how “arrogantly” handled the situation.
“Kenyans vividly remember your words when fuel prices skyrocketed under your administration. You arrogantly dismissed Kenyans by saying: “Bei imepanda, uliza Uhuru. Yaani mimi Uhuru niko Ukraine? Mimi nafanya nini huko? Jameni.” That statement perfectly captured your leadership style – detached, dismissive, and allergic to responsibility.
“You left behind a fuel subsidy debt of over KSh156 billion. Fuel shortages became the norm. Long queues formed across petrol stations. Kenyans carried jerrycans from one station to another searching for fuel like is happening currently in neighbouring countries.”
The party says that instead of President Ruto lamenting about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as the reason for skyrocketing fuel prices, he is implementing both immediate and strategic interventions, including reducing Kenya’s dependence on imported fuel by developing local oil resources in Turkana and across the region while also working with East African Partner States to establish a regional refinery.
“At the same time, his administration is investing in renewable energy, modern public transport, electric mobility, and stronger energy infrastructure. This includes exempting the first 100,000 electric vehicles from duty while attracting EV manufacturers to establish production facilities in Kenya. That is leadership.”
The party has since warned Uhuru to seize from what it says is inciting young people against the government, exploiting their frastruations and emotions not to build the country, but to advance his own political bitterness and vendetta.
“It is time you stepped up and conducted yourself like a former Head of State, like the Statesman Kenya expects you to be. True statesmanship rises above personal bitterness for the good of the country. Yet instead of offering ideas, perspective, or constructive leadership, you spend your time launching attacks against William Ruto from political podiums while offering no solutions.”
