Nairobi — NARC Kenya Party Leader Martha Karua has criticized President William Ruto for relaunching the construction of the 55‑kilometre road in Nyandarua. Karua, who served as Raila Odinga’s deputy in the 2022 State House race, argued that the relaunch should have acknowledged the project’s initial unveiling in 2018, when Ruto was Deputy President. “Nothing can excuse the deceptive launching of an already launched project,” she said on Friday. “If it was done in good faith, the second launch should have acknowledged the first upfront, not wait to offer lame excuses after being outed. The truth will always come out.”
State House defended the relaunch of the Captain‑Ndemi/Wanjohi‑Kwa Matu‑Geta‑Kahuruko‑Ndunyu Njeru Road, claiming the project had been deliberately denied funding by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration to embarrass Ruto. State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed said the 55‑kilometre road was withheld to frustrate Ruto’s presidential bid after Kenyatta backed Odinga as his preferred candidate. He added that several other projects Ruto launched as Deputy President were similarly denied funding despite being included in the budget.
“During last year’s election campaigns, President Ruto promised to complete all stalled projects, including roads. During the ‘Handshake’ period (2018‑2022), many projects he launched were deliberately denied funding even though they were in the government’s programme,” Mohammed explained. “This was intended to frustrate the then Deputy President and his bid for the presidency. Today, it is evident that the architects of these schemes, who thought they would hinder President Ruto, have ultimately hurt the people, the economy, and Kenya.”
Mohammed said the President will “clean up the mess” and finish all stalled projects before starting new ones. “He promised to complete all stalled projects before embarking on new ones. This is the President fulfilling his pledges,” he added.
A tweet announcing that Ruto had inaugurated the Nyandarua project on Thursday sparked a stir on social media after images of the 2018 launch resurfaced.
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