Ruto arrives at Uhuru Gardens for Labour Day celebrations
President William Ruto has arrived at the Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi for Labour Day celebrations led by the Central Organization of Trade Unions Kenya (COTU).
Ruto had been invited to two Labour Day celebrations, one led by COTU and another one led by a little-known rival group, the Trade Unions Congress of Kenya (TUCO).
The celebrations by TUCO were scheduled to be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) grounds.
Speaking during the event, Ruto called on relevant authorities to convene a meeting with the appropriate committee to discuss and implement a minimum wage increase of at least 6 per cent.
"I urge the relevant authorities, particularly the Ministry of Labour, to convene a meeting with the appropriate committee to discuss and implement a minimum wage increase of at least 6 per cent," Ruto said.
Ruto also vouched for the affordable housing programme, promising to have one million houses delivered for Kenyans in the next five years.
"Before the year ends, you will start seeing the houses we started building last year because many are almost ready. If seeing is believing, you will begin to see so that you can believe that we're serious about the housing plan. In the next five years, we must create one million new homeowners in Kenya," Ruto added.
He also called on politicians to tone down on politics and settle to keep the promises they made to Kenyans during elections.
"We must be brutally honest with each other because those of us elected as leaders we are not elected to be popular but to serve and to transform our country. I find a lot of leaders trying so hard to be popular. When will you have the time to work for the people if all the time your focus is on how to continue being popular?" Ruto posed.
