President William Ruto drew a firm line in the sand on Wednesday, telling critics and opposition leaders that political squabbles will claim no more than a sliver of his attention as he presses ahead with his development agenda for Kenya.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for Busia Stadium on March 18, 2026, Ruto brushed aside a wave of opposition criticism that had dominated public discourse in the preceding days, making it plain that he has no intention of letting political noise slow down his administration’s work.
“I will give you one percent of my time,” Ruto said in a pointed message to his critics.
A Week of Sharp Political Exchanges
The Busia remarks did not come out of nowhere. Earlier in the week, while touring Western Kenya, Ruto took pointed jabs at opposition figures, mocking the physical fitness and what he called the “cluelessness” of DAP-K’s Eugene Wamalwa and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Those comments sparked a fresh round of heated exchanges between the government and opposition camps, keeping political tensions simmering across the country.
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By Wednesday, however, the president struck a noticeably different chord – pivoting from the sharp rhetoric of earlier days to a call for national solidarity.
From Confrontation to Unity
Standing before the Busia crowd, Ruto urged political leaders on all sides to step back from divisive language and direct their energy toward the country’s real challenges. His tone carried a deliberate shift – less combative, more statesmanlike.
“Yesterday I told them to deter from spreading a culture that does not unite Kenyans. We are uniting Kenya,” he said.
The president went further, extending an olive branch across party lines and calling for a working alliance between the country’s major political formations. He specifically named ODM and UDA as formations that should be pulling in the same direction.
“We have said ODM, UDA, and Kenya Kwanza should unite against problems, tribalism, and discrimination and unite Kenyans,” Ruto said.
