President William Ruto has reaffirmed his commitment to transforming Kenya. He underscored his mission to implement lasting changes for the nation’s development.
Speaking in Karen, Nairobi, during the installation of Dr Benard Chitunga as the Chancellor of The Co-operative University of Kenya, Ruto reiterated that having been granted the mandate to lead the country, he has a responsibility to bring about change. He assured Kenyans that he will deliver, despite prevailing skepticism.
“Many people may not believe what I am saying, but you will be shocked. I am going to confound the naysayers,” he stated.
According to the head of state, leadership requires making the right decisions, even if they are not immediately popular. He cited the changes his administration implemented regarding the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
“I undertook to the people of Kenya that I was going to change the savings culture. You all remember that everyone used to pay NSSF Ksh 200 until 2023, and that was okay. Explain to me why Ksh 200 is okay. How is Ksh 200 going to amount to savings?” he posed
Ruto defended the decision to increase the amount contributed by Kenyans to the NSSF, asserting that it is already yielding positive results.
“We made the right decision. Today, every Kenyan is saving 6% of their salary, and every employer is saving 6% on behalf of their employees. We have some statistics. From independence up to 2023, we saved Ksh 320 billion. That’s in 60 years. However, in just two years, from 2023 to the present, we have saved Ksh 280 billion,” he said.
“Uganda has a bigger social security fund than Kenya although they have a quarter of our economy. Tanzania has a bigger national social security fund, even though they have 50% of our economy. Why? Because they made the right decisions about savings,” Ruto explained, providing a comparative analysis of the situation in Kenya and its neighbours.
“In Uganda, everybody saves 10% of their salary, and in Tanzania, everybody saves 8% of their salary. But in Kenya, we were saving Ksh 200, and that was supposed to be okay and I was supposed to do nothing about it,” he added.
By the end of this year, the president stated that the country will have doubled the amount saved through the NSSF over the past 60 years, and by 2027, a trillion shillings will have been saved “because we have made some bold decisions.”
