Uhuru Kenyatta Slams Ruto’s ‘Untested Experiments’ as Political Feud Escalates

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta didn’t mince words when he stood before the Jubilee Party National Delegates Conference in Nairobi in 2023. "Today, many of the gains of the past have been eroded," he declared. "Linda Mama and others have been replaced by new, untried and untested schemes. While we wait for these experiments to work, Kenyans suffer and our progress is dragged." The statement wasn’t just policy criticism—it was a political grenade thrown into the heart of the Kenya Kwanza coalition’s first year in power. And it landed with a bang.

The Collapse of UhuRuto

For years, the political world in Kenya operated under a strange truce: the UhuRuto handshake. After the bitter 2017 election, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Samoei Ruto, once sworn enemies, embraced on March 9, 2018. It was a deal stitched together by power, not principle. Their alliance carried Ruto to the presidency in August 2022, with Kenyatta’s endorsement seen as crucial. But now? The handshake is dust. The truce is over. What remains is open warfare.

What Was Lost: The Linda Mama Program

Kenyatta’s most visceral attack centered on the termination of the Linda Mama program, a maternal healthcare initiative launched in 2013 that covered over 1.5 million expectant mothers annually. It wasn’t perfect—there were delays in reimbursements and uneven access—but it was real. Women delivered babies without fear of hospital bills. When Kenya Kwanza scrapped it in 2023, replacing it with a patchwork of pilot programs, mothers felt it. Now, Kenyatta is making that pain political. "You replaced a system that worked with experiments," he said. "And Kenyans are paying the price." The Kenya Kwanza government argues the program was unsustainable, costing over KES 10 billion annually. But critics point out that the replacement—still in pilot form—has reached fewer than 200,000 women nationwide. The gap isn’t just fiscal. It’s human.

Ruto’s Lieutenants Fire Back

On the same Friday, in Kitui town, Vincent Kawaya, MP for Mwala and National Organizing Secretary of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), responded with fire. "Uhuru Kenyatta should retire honourably and stop lecturing those who are fixing the mess he left behind," he told a crowd of boda boda riders. The crowd roared. Kawaya didn’t stop there. He called the Nairobi Expressway—a 27-kilometer toll road completed in May 2022 at a cost of KES 32.9 billion—an "exploitative project benefiting Uhuru’s associates." No names were named. No evidence presented. Just accusation, amplified.

Dr. Rachael Nyamai, MP for Kitui South, echoed Kawaya’s sentiment, though without direct quotes. Her silence spoke volumes. The message from Kenya Kwanza’s base is clear: they believe Kenyatta’s era was one of elite enrichment, and Ruto’s is one of populist redemption. The narrative is being weaponized.

The Numbers Behind the Noise

Both sides are using economic data like weapons. Kenya’s public debt-to-GDP ratio sits at 70.4%, a figure Kenya Kwanza blames squarely on Kenyatta’s watch. But here’s the twist: that debt climbed from 55% in 2013 to 70.4% in 2022. Growth happened under Kenyatta, but so did borrowing. Now, inflation is at 6.7% as of June 2023. Fuel subsidies are eating up KES 15 billion every month. The fiscal deficit for 2022/2023 was 6.7% of GDP. Neither side owns the problem. Both are trying to own the blame.

Kenyatta argues that his administration built infrastructure—roads, railways, hospitals—that Ruto is now dismantling. Ruto’s team says those were vanity projects, financed by debt, that didn’t reach the poor. The Nairobi Expressway is the perfect symbol: a gleaming, modern road that costs drivers KES 150 to use. To some, it’s progress. To others, it’s a toll on the people.

What’s Next: The Road to 2027

The Jubilee Party is now reorganizing for the 2027 elections—scheduled for Tuesday, August 10, 2027. Kenyatta’s speech wasn’t just criticism. It was a rallying cry. He’s rebuilding his base, reminding loyalists of what they lost. Meanwhile, William Ruto is doubling down on his Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), targeting small traders, farmers, and youth with cash grants and training. It’s a grassroots strategy, and so far, it’s working in rural strongholds.

But here’s the real question: when Kenyans look at their grocery bills, their fuel prices, and their hospital queues, who do they blame? The man who built the roads but left the debt? Or the man who promised relief but hasn’t delivered enough?

The political theater is getting louder. The stakes? The next decade of Kenya’s future.

Background: The Handshake That Changed Kenya

The UhuRuto handshake didn’t just end a rivalry—it rewrote Kenya’s political playbook. After the disputed 2017 election, which led to a Supreme Court annulment and a repeat vote, Kenyatta and Ruto—once bitter rivals—met in a Nairobi hotel and shook hands. It was a moment of pure political pragmatism. Kenyatta needed to neutralize Ruto’s challenge. Ruto needed access to state power. Their alliance won the 2022 election. But alliances built on convenience rarely survive betrayal. And in politics, the greatest betrayal is when your ally becomes your accuser.

What the Experts Say

Dr. Amina Mwangi, a political economist at the University of Nairobi, put it bluntly: "This isn’t about policy anymore. It’s about legacy. Kenyatta is fighting to be remembered as a builder. Ruto is fighting to be remembered as a reformer. Both are terrified of being forgotten." The public, meanwhile, is caught in the middle. And they’re tired.