Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen now says the political system in Rwanda is the reason why the implementation of government projects runs smoothly in the country, making Kigali a benchmark for many countries in the East Africa region and beyond.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Monday report show, Murkomen appeared to dismiss those who keep comparing Kenya and Rwanda in terms of development, stating that while Nairobi is a democratic nation, Kigali is an autocracy where “whatever the President says is the law.”
He said some of the government agenda in Kenya is hampered by virtue of the country being a democracy.
“Rwanda is not like Kenya. Like the president said yesterday we must live with certain expectations that come with democracy. Rwanda is an autocracy and there whatever the President says is the law,” he said.
“The other day I announced that we want to retest drivers but what happened…people caused chaos, went to court… For every decision you make in this country you must go through a proposal then Parliament then public participation. Then after you go through all the processes you go through the court and that is our country.”
He further cited Rwanda’s small geographical size, noting that the East African nation cannot should not be compared with Kenya.
“And the size of Rwanda is almost the size of Kajiado County which is bigger. You cannot compare the political situation in Rwanda and the size of the country with our country and our democracy. That is why we have to employ technology to deal with corruption and cartelism,” said Murkomen.
He however noted that the said autocracy in Rwanda has worked in favour of the country by allowing the Head of State to smoothly implement his programs.
“Autocracy is not a bad thing many people in Kenya have said we should have what we call benevolent dictatorship… Rwanda has chosen a certain form of leadership where they give strength to their president and the president has used it for the greater good,” said Murkomen.
He added: “Rwanda now without much debate are building a new airport with a new runway… because decisions are made without court orders… without injunctions.”
President William Ruto is on record lamenting over the various legal injunctions sought against some of the agenda introduced by his administration the most recent being Housing Levy and the new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
CS Kipchumba Murkomen: Rwanda is not like Kenya. Rwanda is an autocracy and there whatever the President says is the law. For every decision you make in this country you must go through a proposal then Parliament then public participation. Then after you go through all the… pic.twitter.com/1GZJ1v7R9N— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 18, 2023
