Former Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has expressed concern over what she describes as increasing dysfunction within President William Ruto’s administration, linking it to a recent rise in deaths among Kenyan youth.
Speaking on a local media station on June 11, 2025, Kariuki criticised the government’s inconsistent messaging and disjointed communication, arguing that it reflects a broader leadership failure that is eroding public trust and contributing to the worsening state of national affairs.
“In our days, there was freedom for us to run around and communicate with clarity what we were doing as a government. [But now] I think that the left and the right don’t even seem to be speaking from the same point of view,” Kariuki said.
Rising death toll
The former CS linked this dysfunction to the increasing number of young people dying under circumstances she described as preventable and tragic.
She cited several recent incidents, including the drownings of three young people in Kinangop, Nyandarua County, while they were desilting a dam; the deaths of five tourists in a road accident in the same county; and the controversial death of Albert Omondi Ojwang while in police custody.
“Too much pain. Losing young lives that we ought not to be losing,” she lamented.
Kariuki condemned the state’s handling of Ojwang’s case, stating that the release of another youth arrested alongside him without charges indicated that there were no legal grounds for his detention in the first place.
“The gentleman who had been arrested together with Albert, having also participated in the social media conversation, was released without any charge. What does that mean to a normal Kenyan? That indeed even the young man ought not to have been killed,” she said.
She commended the public for standing up in protest and solidarity, especially in support of Ojwang’s family, saying it signalled a growing civic awakening.
“Contributing to Ojuang’s family to be able to support the very young family. Mothers coming out and saying, you know what, we feel the pain. We stand with you,” she noted.
Democratic backslide
Kariuki further warned that Kenya is rapidly sliding back into an era of authoritarianism, where freedom of expression is being stifled and civic space is shrinking.
“We are clawing back very quickly on democratic space,” she stated. “We can’t go back to where we were before we became independent states.”
She questioned the credibility of government communication, particularly critiquing President Ruto’s recent apology to Gen Z protesters.
“In communication, we see that only 7% comes out of the words that you’re indicating. The rest, which is about 93%, is between your body language and the voice and the tone of the same. So when the president comes and apologises to the Gen Zs, you can already see the disconnect between the words, the body language, and even what he’s emitting,” she explained.
Kariuki described these characteristics as symptomatic of an executive branch of government that appears detached and unconcerned.
“You want to be trusted? I doubt this will happen with that kind of communication. It marks a ‘we don’t care’ attitude,” she remarked.
She further cited recent incidents of repression in the region, including the deportation of former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and the detention of Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire and activist Boniface Mwangi in Tanzania, which she described as part of a troubling trend.
“And, you know, unfortunately, we seem to be clawing back very, very quickly on the democratic space. And we are going back to the days of poor governance in Kenya and our neighbouring countries,” she said.
“I mean, it must be called to order. I don’t think we can go back where we were before we became independent states,” she added.
