By Job Kirwa-Cherangani-own opinion

It is time we stop being fooled by televised confessions and staged crackdowns. Kenya does not need a president who plays both arsonist and firefighter.

President Ruto’s sudden moral outrage over bribery in Parliament would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerously hypocritical. He now wants the country to believe that he—Commander-in-Chief of political horse-trading, architect of legislative coercion, and patron of backroom parliamentary deals—has just discovered corruption in the House and is shocked by it.

Let us be clear: the president is not condemning corruption; he is curating it. The same MPs he now wants arrested are the very ones he once applauded for rubber-stamping his authoritarian agenda. He bribed them to impeach his own deputy. He used them to bulldoze through punitive finance bills. He weaponized their loyalty to crush dissent. And now, like a magician turning on his own smoke and mirrors, he cries foul.

This is not about accountability. It is about control. It is about sacrificing a few pawns to protect the king. If bribes were indeed exchanged to pass the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, the trail does not stop at parliamentary committee rooms—it snakes all the way to the gates of State House.

And now, in yet another display of scripted virtue, Ruto is preparing to travel to the United States—likely to woo investors with empty promises and borrowed slogans. But investors, like Kenyans, are not blind. They see the truth: this is not a reformist administration. It is a regime that paints a broken fence with white and calls it a transformation.

The Anti-Money Laundering Bill was not passed because of any moral awakening in Parliament. It was forced through under the pressure of international watchdogs like FATF and ESAAMLG. And yet, the same president now weaponizes its passage to grandstand as an anti-corruption champion—while his own administration has been cited by the U.S. Trade Representative for high-level corruption that discourages foreign investment.

Ruto cannot play both arsonist and firefighter. You cannot burn down the House of Parliament, then return with a bucket of water and demand applause. If he truly wanted reform, he would start by dismantling the political machinery he built to sustain bribery, intimidation, and impunity. It is time we stop being fooled by televised confessions and staged crackdowns. Kenya does not need a president who plays both arsonist and firefighter. We need leadership that upholds justice before it is convenient—and not just when the fire threatens their throne.

Until then, his crusade is not justice—it is theatre. And the Kenyan people are no longer the audience. We are the victims.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of The Diaspora Times. We are committed to providing a platform for diverse voices and bold perspectives within the global Kenyan community.

© The Diaspora Times – Bold. Unfiltered. Global.
https://diasporatimeskenya.com