Presidential asprirant Jimi Wanjigi criticized President William Ruto’s recently launched youth empowerment program at State House, Nairobi, dismissing it as a publicity stunt with no real economic benefit.
Speaking on a local radio show on Monday, August 18, 2025, Wanjigi accused the State of staging the initiative to deceive Kenyans into believing that young people were receiving meaningful support.
“What I’m also hearing about these empowerment groupings is that money is brought by one person, he donates to the people sitting there, and they are going to contribute. Like an MP would be given Ksh200,000 and told Ksh100,000 is for you, Ksh100,000 you put in the kitty,” Wanjigi explained.
The Safina Party leader dismissed the alleged contributions and distributions as nothing more than a recycled gimmick. He claimed that the same people who transport attendees to the events end up collecting the funds by the end of the day.
“The people who came with the money are the same people who came with the same transport, so they collect the same money and by evening if you have had a head count as you were saying Ksh7M, that is what is counted, but the same Ksh7M is collected back into a chopper or a car with the people who say they are securing it and go to the next venue,” Wanjigi said.
The businessman likened the program to a staged performance created only for optics.
“We are talking about props, showbiz. It’s just showbiz, and please don’t buy into this rubbish. You are giving it too much attention. This man is a total waste of time, it’s showbiz,” Wanjigi added.
Wanjigi Paints Grim Picture of Kenya’s Economy
The businessman painted a bleak picture of a country grappling with hunger, poverty, and a struggling economy, accusing the leadership of distracting citizens with showbiz politics.
“All they are doing is simply running away from the problem. They can’t solve it. They do not have the revenue to solve our problems. All they can do is showbiz,” Wanjigi said.
He faulted leaders in the broad-based government for creating what he described as an “alternative reality” that ignores the suffering of millions. Wanjigi argued that this diversion only hides the government’s failure to address inflation, unemployment, and the rising cost of living.
“They keep showing you that there is another alternative reality and that reality is fake,” he said.
“There are some people who eat in the showbiz, and many of them are vomiting on us. While many are hungry, some are now new people to this thing, like you are hearing broad-based, and some of the people talking there would drive you crazy because they are not talking about reality,” he added.
“The reality is, they cannot solve our economic problem. They are glossing over it,” he insisted.
Wanjigi asserted that Kenyans deserve genuine honesty and accountability from their leaders rather than empty public relations stunts.
