Editor's Review

The president inscribed his portrait and name on the bags carrying the Christmas freebies.

President William Ruto has been under fire by a section of Kenyans who found fault in how he delivered Christmas donations to the Sugoi residents.

Hundreds of locals and others from the adjoining localities and counties thronged Sugoi on Friday, December 22, to get a share of the freebies before Christmas.

The goodies comprised, among other essentials, cooking flour, cooking oil and sugar.

They were assorted in yellow bags on which the president's portrait was inscribed.

The naysayers found the practice suspicious, arguing Ruto was still stuck in campaign mode.

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Others claimed the taxpayer's monies had been misused in such ventures.

In other quarters, politicians like Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni called out Ruto for failing to make the people have enough food despite earlier promises when he condemned Azimio's demonstrations.

"We said the Sufuria is empty. They said they had a plan!! Now see," Kioni wrote.

Saboti Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi expressed worry over the country's state of affairs. He called on various state agencies to investigate if Ruto's subsidized fertiliser reached the farmers.

"But when mammoth of neighbours are this hungry, it should worry any leader. These people never attended any demonstration, instead, they were busy cultivating, and with free fertiliser, we expected they would instead share a meal with the demonstrators. Who the hell stole their produce?? EACC, in conjunction with Interpol, must jump into action. You can imagine the situation in the rest of the so-called opposition zones," Amisi indicated.

Hundreds of Sugoi residents and outsiders thronged the president's native area to get Christmas freebies.

Coming to Ruto's defence, Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) chief executive Ezekiel Mutua said the president was in order considering his full-time occupation.

According to Mutua, the president was at liberty to brand the donations with his identity given that he is a politician who needs to maintain his visibility among voters.

"He is a politician and the game calls for branding at every opportunity. The thousands who turned up did it out of love, the same way they have been turning up to elect him. I would have been more worried if they didn't," he said.

Earlier, State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed came out to defend the president.

In a statement dated Friday, December 22, Hussein castigated a section of Kenyans for turning against the President yet he was extending a helping hand.

Hussein argued that Ruto was upholding the virtue of kindness and sharing with neighbours.

"President William Ruto today sharing with his neighbours in Sugoi during this festive season. Unbelievable how some (whose sport is to find fault at everything as the President said) would criticize sharing with the people."

"If you're against sharing with your neighbours and humanity, you might want to check if your heart's still beating. Being mean is a bad thing, but it’s even worse to campaign against sharing with humanity," Hussein stated.

Ruto and First Lady Rachel hosted hundreds of residents in Sugoi and handed them maize flour, cooking oil and wheat flour. Ruto also gifted the residents packets of rice and sugar.