We, the Okoa Uchumi Campaign, categorically reject the weaponization of conditional apologies. Kenya is not grieving in speculation. We are grieving that over 60 youth have been shot dead, another approximately 89 citizens abducted and disappeared, journalists and critics surveilled and threatened, neighbours’ sovereignty trampled on in cross-border impunity, budgets looted, priorities distorted and lives stolen.
During his address, President Ruto offered generalized apologies: “To our children, if there is any misstep, we apologize”. This Statement did not acknowledge the government’s actions: instead, the apology was well-framed in broad, non-committal terms without reference to concrete issues or a clear commitment to corrective action.
There is no “if” when the evidence is written in the wounds of a nation. It is unacceptable to pretend to provide redress conditionally. Most recently, we are angered by the government’s failure to defend citizens who are tortured and subjected to gross and inhuman treatment. In a self-preserving move the President of Kenya and the Chair of East Africa Community rushed to offer an apology to Tanzania without demanding accountability. It’s pretentious to believe the same mouth that denied accountability can now deliver justice to grieving Kenyans.
Our Demands Are Clear. Our Constitution Is Clearer!
Under Article 1 of the Constitution, sovereignty belongs to the people. Article 10 requires that governance be anchored in transparency, accountability, and human dignity. Additionally, Article 43 anchors the rights of every Kenyan to access education, health, housing, and social protection.
On the other hand, Chapter Six states that leadership must be based on integrity and public trust while remaining accountable to the people of Kenya. The provisions are not aspirations: they are the law, which is equal to a creed in a religious setting. Therefore, a breach is a betrayal and must be met with serious actions of accountability and responsibility. Therefore, we ask:
- When will justice begin for the youth murdered during peaceful protests while rogue police officers continue to walk free, even as graves remain unmarked and questions unanswered?
- Where is the inquiry into enforced disappearances and abductions?
A Budget of Betrayal
This year’s budget is not a People’s Budget. It cuts funding for our children but balloons spending for the presidency. Clearly, we do not have a revenue problem, but an expenditure problem. As if that is not enough, the budget mocks the sovereignty of the people and offends intergenerational
equity by slashing education, child services, contraceptives, and public health, yet triples budgets for security, surveillance, and elite comfort. It offends our elderly and vulnerable, while feeding a bloated bureaucracy. It again presents a faulty deficit that will cause our Kenyan suppliers to go
without payment due to Ksh.706 billion worth of pending bills and debt repayments for interest and principal amount well above Ksh.1.9 Trillion.
Do we still need to discuss debt restructuring and default despite the government clearly lacking the ability to pay local suppliers, pensioners, and essential services? We are already in debt default. Isn’t this what the basics of insolvency are?
Finally, we want to state that we are tired of apologies served at prayer breakfasts; we do not swallow them. We are ashamed of expensive ceremonies that produce no justice, and ultimately, we are fed up with leaders fluent in the language of faith but deaf to the cries of the people.
Okoa Uchumi Calls For:
- The Government to proactively engage with regional counterparts to ensure the safety, dignity, and protection of all Kenyans. Defend Citizens Across Borders: As Chair of the East African Community, the President must take a firm stance when Kenyan citizens face mistreatment in neighbouring countries.
- A national inquiry into extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and state violence, led by independent actors and victims’ families and immediate redress and reparations for victims of economic and political violence.
- Transparent audits of public debt and identification of odious loans as per the High Court ruling of December 2024, and a people-led renegotiation process.
- Criminal investigations into grand corruption cases in digital infrastructure, housing, health, land, and other captured sectors.
- Restoration of social sector budgets — health, education, child services, contraceptives, and social protection — as non-negotiable economic rights.
- Full implementation of Chapter Six and Article 10, starting with public vetting and lifestyle audits of those in office.
This campaign is not against Kenya. It is for Kenya — a Kenya where leadership is accountable, budgets serve people, and justice is not mumbled in prayers but written into policy, practice, and public life.
For more information email: mulayi.muni@tisa.or.ke