President William Ruto should borrow a leaf from Kenya’s third President, Mwai Kibaki, to create a lasting legacy of his tenure instead of clawing back on some the gains the country has made.

This was the recurring theme of a series of talks rendered by some of President Ruto’s most vocal critics, led by his impeached deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua and former Attorney General, Justin Muturi, during a memorial in honour of Mwai Kibaki.

On Friday, leaders who gathered at the Nairobi Serena Hotel exalted former President Kibaki as a development-oriented and forward-looking leader under whose stewardship the country flourished, simultaneously admonishing the ills perpetrated by the Kenya Kwanza government.

Gachagua, former vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, immediate former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Muturi and DAP-Kenya party leader Eugene Wamalwa led the charge in drawing parallels between President Kibaki’s tenure and that of Ruto, noting that the latter should do more.

Others in attendance were Kivutha Kibwana, Francis Muthaura, Mukhisa Kitui, Peter Kagwanja and the Democratic party’s leadership, MPs Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri), Jane Kihara (Naivasha), as well as politician Cate Waruguru.

Gachagua, who described Kibaki as “the greatest President of our times”, heaped praise on the economic turn-around orchestrated by the late Kibaki administration but chided his former boss for empty rhetoric and for not putting the country first.

“Mzee Mwai Kibaki is a reference point in matters governance, and anybody who talks governance, there’s a reference to his leadership. He left a legacy that is permanent that is felt,” he said.

“…and because I am someone who listens to the common people, don’t tell us about economic growth, economic surveys, that the economy has improved from this to that percentage. We want to feel the growth the way we felt it when Kibaki was present because there was money in circulation and people do not want to be told of economic theories,” added Gachagua.

He added that Kibaki not only dignified government contracts by ensuring budgetary support, but he also pushed for responsible taxation and corresponding services- attributes that he claimed were yet to be solidified by the current regime.

“I want to tell our brother in government to know that Kenyans are not complaining about taxation in that they do not want to pay taxes, but they have a problem with paying taxes that are misappropriated and want to see development.”

Alluding to the alleged micromanagement of Cabinet Secretaries- whom he termed ‘yes men’- and projects in ministries by the current Head of State, Gachagua called for a cessation of the same.

“Kibaki respected institutions…he would not have succeeded without the bureaucracy that he led, but he also allowed people to work. Going forward, that must be the way for this country so that institutions can work,” he stated.

In the same breadth, the former second-in-command took issue with the recent attack meted on students from Butere Girls High School to hinder the staging of their play “Echoes of War”.

“We (as leaders) are looking at what is happening regarding Butere girls, and we are trying to understand what is this viciousness against children by the current government. Even the colonial government never went for the children…we have seen a situation where the current administration has panicked because this one term is becoming real. They … are now fighting shadows, including school girls,” emphasized Gachagua.

Wiper party leader Kalonzo, who lauded Kibaki’s role in the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, also termed the Butere incident as an attack and a direct assault on Kenya’s democracy and the rights of Kenyans as enshrined in the constitution.

“Let it be known that as we celebrate Mwai Kibaki, we will continue to defend our constitution, protect all Kenyans, their freedoms and rights and we will not be silenced. Not today, not now, not ever,” he reiterated.

Muturi stressed the need for the current administration to emulate Kibaki’s integrity and disdain for corruption throughout his protracted public service career. Alluding to his recent remarks where he termed State House to be a ‘house of deals’ and a ‘crime scene’, Muturi added:.

 “You do not need to read Chapter six of the Constitution, you just need to follow the public life of the longest serving member of Parliament so far who is Kibaki. For someone to be in politics for that long and to date, you don’t hear anything like you hear today (says a lot),” he observed.

“How I wish anyone in leadership could borrow a leaf, that when you come up with public projects, we don’t do so because we have hidden private interests in there. How is it that Kibaki went through being a minister for finance, health, assistant and held very critical dockets but to date you can’t hear what you hear with the government of the day?” he posed.

Muthaura, who served under Kibaki exalted Kibaki’s legacy which he said was characterized by his impact through free education, creation of the Ministry of Youth to deal with the Mungiki menace as a result of the youth unemployment, opening up Nairobi to highrise buildings that created employment, construction of highways and embracing new ideas.

“The Presidency requires a lot of thinking and that is what we had…it does not require a lot of talking,” he averred.