By John Mutiso
The government’s push to expand digital access across the country has taken centre stage after President William Ruto announced a significant rise in public Wi-Fi hotspots since 2022.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, November 20, during the State of the Nation Address, he noted that the transformation has been driven by investment in nationwide fibre connectivity and the rollout of innovation hubs.
“We have expanded fibre by 24,000 km, and moved from zero public Wi-Fi hotspots in 2022 to nearly 1,500 today, connecting communities once left behind. We have set up 300 digital innovation hubs, with 400 in the pipeline; gateways where ideas grow and enterprises begin,” he said.
Elsewhere, Ruto pointed to similar progress in agriculture, saying digitisation has given the state full visibility of farmers for the first time.
“In 2022 fewer than 300,000 farmers were on record. Today, over 7.1M farmers have registered on the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information system giving us visibility to design scientific targeted interventions and eliminate extortionists, brokers, cartels and middlemen,” he added.
Ruto also defended the government’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage, noting that support for vulnerable Kenyans is already being financed directly by the state.
“When I promised that those unable to pay for healthcare would be supported by government under UHC, the cynics scoffed as usual. Today, we are paying premiums for 2.3M vulnerable Kenyans because for them, healthcare is not a privilege,” he further said.
At the same time, Ruto hit out at his critics, dismissing them as pessimists who offer no alternatives while attempting to undermine Kenya’s economic progress.
He defended his administration’s achievements, stating that global economic assessors and market sentiment affirm that Kenya’s economy is strengthening.
“The world’s most respected economic assessors, and market sentiment, are affirming what we already know: that our economy is strengthening, our prospects are brightening, and confidence in Kenya is rising,” he declared.
Ruto took direct aim at his detractors, characterizing them as perpetual naysayers who criticize without offering constructive solutions.
“Our critics, the high priests of eternal pessimism, who criticise without responsibility and tear down without offering alternatives, will want you to believe that our economy is going in the wrong direction,” he stated.
Ruto emphasized that while everyone is entitled to their opinion in a democracy, facts cannot be manufactured to serve personal agendas.
“But while anyone may speak their mind, and that is the beauty of our democracy, no one is entitled to manufacture self-serving falsehoods and traffic them as facts,” he said.
Ruto insisted that the facts he was presenting were ‘clear, verifiable, and indisputable,’ challenging critics to base their arguments on reality rather than speculation.
On the affordable housing initiative, he recounted how skeptics had dismissed the project at various stages of its development.
“Three years ago, when we said we would deliver affordable housing, the cynics dismissed it as a fantasy. When they realised we were serious, they called it impossible. And when we broke ground across the country, they suggested that the projects would stall,” he narrated.
Ruto noted that public perception has shifted dramatically, with Kenyans now asking how they can access the housing units rather than whether the project would succeed.
“Today, those doubts have given way to a very different question from Kenyans everywhere: How do I get one of those units?” he stated.
Ruto also highlighted Kenya’s economic growth, noting that the country has moved from being the eighth largest economy in Africa three years ago to the sixth largest on the continent.
“Three years ago, Kenya was ranked the eighth largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $115 billion. Today, our GDP has increased to $136 billion, moving us up to become the sixth largest economy on the continent, according to IMF,” he announced.
