Speaking at the 63rd Mashujaa Day ceremony in Eldoret’s Kipchoge Keino Stadium, President William Ruto urged opposition leaders to detail how they would tackle unemployment, health costs, housing and farmer support, saying the 2027 election should be a contest of ideas and practical plans.

Ruto defended his administration’s economic transformation agenda, noting that the economy had grown, inflation was under control, the exchange rate had stabilised and credit access had widened.

He cited the stock market’s rise from Sh2 trillion in 2022 to Sh4.2 trillion and foreign direct investment climbing from $1.5 billion in 2022 to $3.2 billion in 2025 as indicators of progress.

The President highlighted the Hustler Fund, stating more than 10 million Kenyans were regular borrowers with Sh98 billion advanced without collateral, and announced an additional Sh5 billion injection by year‑end.

In agriculture, Ruto said 8.9 million farmers had been registered and over 38 million bags of subsidised fertilizer distributed, lifting maize output from 34.3 million bags in 2022 to 71 million bags the previous year.

He also reported higher earnings for coffee, sugarcane and dairy producers, noting milk production rose by one billion litres and farmgate prices increased from Sh35 to Sh60 per litre, with Eldoret dairy farmers now earning Sh65 per litre plus a Sh2 per litre quarterly bonus.

On health, registration under the Social Health Authority reached 33.3 million Kenyans, up from seven million in 2022, and the agency had disbursed Sh107 billion to facilities since the start of the year for medicines and supplies.

The affordable housing programme was said to have created over 1.1 million jobs and advanced 303 000 homes at various stages, while 680 000 Kenyans were linked to overseas employment and 350 000 youth benefited from digital‑jobs initiatives.

Ruto set targets for the next three years: two million digital jobs, one million overseas placements and another two million jobs through housing and related investments, alongside continued road, rail, energy and industrial projects, including oil exports from Lake Turkana slated for December.

He challenged opponents of major infrastructure projects—such as the Mau Summit Highway, the railway extension to Kisumu and Malaba, the Isiolo‑Mandera corridor and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport upgrade—to present alternative plans that would still connect counties, open markets and generate jobs.

Ruto concluded by urging that political debate focus on competing policies rather than ethnic mobilisation or personal attacks, stressing that accountability and results should guide Kenya’s democratic process.