• In a column published in The Standard Newspaper on Friday, September 26, 2025, Dr Ndonye offers a provocative lens on the tight reforms currently reshaping the life of the common mwananchi. 

What if President William Ruto is the leader Kenyans have longed for?

This is the question political analyst Dr Michael Ndonye dares to ask. In a column published in The Standard Newspaper on Friday, September 26, 2025, Dr Ndonye offers a provocative lens on the tight reforms currently reshaping the life of the common mwananchi. According to him, Ruto could be walking the path once taken by the late President Mwai Kibaki.


A screengrab of the column published on the Standard Newspaper

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“Kibaki’s style was technocratic, his speech sparse, and his war on inefficiency was misread as indifference. But beneath the surface, he was laying foundations, roads, institutions, and fiscal policies that would later be hailed as visionary. He was not perfect, but he was purposeful, and Kenyans were hurt,” Ndonye writes.

But this isn’t a call for blind loyalty. Dr Ndonye is clear: this is a call to explore alternative thinking paths. “There is a principle let’s call it the paradox of reform where leaders who challenge the status quo are often disparaged first, only to be vindicated later. Kibaki lived it. Could Ruto be living it too? Say never! But what if I am right?” he asks.

Political analyst Dr Michael Ndonye, who is also the Dean, School of Music and Media at Kabarak University. (Photo credit: Felix Bett)

He doesn’t stop at theory. Dr Ndonye offers practical lessons—lessons that, if followed, could help Ruto avoid Kibaki’s early pitfalls while preserving long-term gains.

First, he urges Ruto to master narrative discipline. Kibaki’s silence, he argues, allowed critics to define his presidency. “Ruto must not repeat that mistake,” he warns. “If he is restructuring, he must explain—not just in policy briefs, but in language that connects with the mwananchi’s daily struggle.”

Second, he challenges Ruto to listen to critics and consider their concerns. “Critics are not always enemies. Some are mirrors,” he says.

Third, he calls for a balance between technocracy and empathy. According to Ndonye, this is how resistance can be softened without compromising reform.

And finally, he cautions against opportunists hijacking the reform agenda. Without vigilance, he warns, the very people meant to benefit could be sidelined by those seeking power without purpose.

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