Muturi Tells Ruto to Prioritise El Niño Preparedness Over Politics
September 2026
Democratic Party (DP) leader Justin Muturi has called on President William Ruto to shift government attention from political campaigning to preparations for the anticipated El Nino rains. Muturi, a former Public Service Cabinet Secretary, warned that poor planning could deepen hardship for ordinary Kenyans already dealing with other pressures.
Muturi argued that the coming weather threat needs direct presidential leadership rather than a government distracted by rallies and campaign vehicles. He said Kenya was especially exposed given existing strain on farming, food supplies and the health sector, and that flooding could make all three worse. Writing on X on Wednesday, September 9, Muturi said officials should not wait until hospitals are overwhelmed or crops are destroyed before mobilising resources.
Muturi kept his appeal blunt and personal. “The campaign can wait. Kenya cannot,” he said, arguing that the political season should take a back seat to public safety. He also urged Ruto to bring together national and county officials to agree on a clear command structure for handling the anticipated rains, rather than leaving disaster response scattered across agencies.
Matiang’i Piles On Pressure
Muturi is not alone in pressing the government on this front. Jubilee Deputy Party Leader Fred Matiang’i issued his own challenge the same day, demanding that officials back up their promises with detailed county-level plans, published budgets and pre-positioned emergency supplies. “A press statement is not a preparedness plan,” Matiang’i said, framing the dispute as a test of whether the administration can deliver rather than just announce.
Matiang’i cautioned against what he called a familiar cycle of early warnings followed by sluggish action, saying lives would be at stake if that pattern repeated itself. He went further than Muturi by attaching a deadline to his criticism: People Daily’s report on the standoff notes that his team plans to track the government’s actual delivery against its promises and publish an independent assessment before the rains begin.
Government’s Contingency Plan
The criticism from Muturi and Matiang’i follows the government’s own announcement of a national contingency plan for the rains expected between October and December. That plan reportedly covers mapping flood-prone areas, strengthening early warning systems, and preparing evacuation and emergency response measures. Officials have also said they are working to sharpen crisis communication ahead of the rainy season.
Despite that announcement, both politicians argue the real test will be whether resources and coordination actually reach affected communities once the rains start, rather than staying on paper. Switch TV’s coverage of Muturi’s remarks adds that he specifically wants high-risk areas identified early so emergency resources can be positioned before communities are cut off.
Why This Standoff Matters
For farmers already unsettled by unpredictable seasons, and for county health facilities that regularly struggle with supplies, the difference between early positioning and a delayed response can be significant. Flooded roads and damaged crops do not wait for political calendars to clear, and a government caught unprepared risks both humanitarian costs and political blame.
Ruto’s office has not yet issued a direct reply to either Muturi or Matiang’i’s specific challenges, so it remains unclear whether the president will alter his public schedule as the rains approach. What happens next is fairly concrete: Matiang’i has promised to publish his own scorecard on government readiness before the rains arrive, which will give Kenyans an independent measure of whether Wednesday’s warnings were heeded or ignored.
