Kipchumba Murkomen, Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public Works, has raised eyebrows by claiming Rwanda is an autocracy where what the president says is law.
Murkomen, who has recently been in the spotlight due to a power outage at Kenya's busiest airport, JKIA, was speaking on Citizen TV on Monday.
The CS stated, against a holiday campaign to educate motorists about road safety, that Kenya is a democracy where the rule of law reigns supreme.
He stated that in Kenya, processes can take time because they must go through several stages, including public participation, parliament, and, on occasion, the court.
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Dr @SingoeiAKorir, you need to URGENTLY organise workshops for government officials and educate them on basic tenets on the comity of nations. CS @kipmurkomen can't attack a sovereign friendly state without provocation and disparage President @PaulKagame just like that. This is… https://t.co/igOXW4vKTw
— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) December 18, 2023
Murkomen compared Kenya and Rwanda, claiming there could be no fair comparison because Rwanda is "even smaller than Kajiado county."
"Rwanda is not Kenya." "Rwanda is an autocracy, and whatever the President says is law," said CS Murkomen.
"For every decision you make in this country, you must go through a proposal, then Parliament, then public participation."
His comments sparked outrage online, with Lawyer Ahmednasir demanding that the government organize workshops to educate officials on basic principles of international relations.
According to the lawyer, the CS disparaged President Kagame without provocation, and his words were likely to incite resentment between Kenya and Rwanda.
Let it go on record that I am a true friend of Rwanda & its President Paul Kagame … I remember with fondness when few years ago, President Kagame invited me to visit him in Kigali. Rwanda maybe small, so is Singapore, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg & Liechtenstein.
— Donald B Kipkorir (@DonaldBKipkorir) December 18, 2023
By the…
"CS Murkomen cannot attack a sovereign friendly state and disparage President Paul Kagame without provocation." "This is embarrassing," Ahmednasir wrote on the social media platform X.
"CSs must be given a crash course in the responsibilities of their new constitutional positions!" Kenya will be a pariah state in the neighborhood very soon!"
Another learned friend, Donald Kipkorir, chimed in, criticizing the CS for his controversial remarks on national television.
"Rwanda maybe small, so is Singapore, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg & Liechtenstein," Kipkorir said in an interview with X.
"By the way, the only countries in Africa whose growth rate is over 6% p.a. are Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia & Rwanda."
