{"id":43383,"date":"2026-01-24T18:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/43383\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T18:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:35:14","slug":"the-only-person-who-can-take-kenya-to-first-world-status-is-ruto-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/43383\/","title":{"rendered":"The only person who can take Kenya to first-world status is Ruto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brian<\/a> By
\n
\n Brian Kimani
\n <\/a>
\n Published on: January 24, 2026 06:48 (EAT)
\n \"Atwoli: <\/p>\n

COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli speaks to the members of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU) on January 17, 2026. PHOTO | COURTESY<\/p>\n

\"Vocalize <\/p>\n

Audio By Vocalize<\/p>\n

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU)
\nSecretary General Francis Atwoli has urged young Kenyans to support President
\nWilliam Ruto, describing him as a leader with the drive and capacity to
\ntransform the country to first-world status.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking in Eldama Ravine, Baringo County,
\nAtwoli said his views about the President had shifted significantly since the
\n2022 elections, noting that Ruto\u2019s performance in office had altered his
\nearlier opposition stance.<\/p>\n

He told residents that Kenya needed unity
\nand collective support behind national leadership if the country was to achieve
\nlong-term growth, industrial expansion, and global competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis young man called William Ruto, I was
\nhis fiercest opponent, there was no one harsher than me. I even said he would
\nhang himself by planting trees at his home. But when you look at what he has
\ndone in two years, it is what we could not achieve in five or even ten years,\u201d
\nAtwoli stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Atwoli argued that the President\u2019s agenda
\nreflects a long-term vision aimed at positioning Kenya as a modern,
\nindustrialised economy capable of attracting both local and international
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us support him and ignore the noise
\nfrom people. Even us, the older generation, when asked if Ruto should go home,
\nwe say no. What he is talking about, Kenya becoming a first-world country or
\namong developed nations, is possible,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The COTU boss further said the country
\nneeded leadership focused on creating opportunities for young people through
\nindustrial growth, investment attraction, and job creation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is brave and he is not worried about
\nbeing removed. He is focused on the interests of Kenyans and transforming our
\ncountry. Young people need a future in a developed country that attracts direct
\nand indirect investment, has manufacturing plants, and has the facilities to
\nsupport growth,\u201d Atwoli stated.<\/p>\n

According to Atwoli, Kenya\u2019s transformation
\nrequires stable leadership, economic reforms, and sustained development
\npolicies that prioritise productivity, infrastructure expansion, and
\nindustrialisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only person who can take us to that level is none other
\nthan William Ruto,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Brian Kimani Published on: January 24, 2026 06:48 (EAT) COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli speaks to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7140,25257,9534,80,469,3949,1380],"class_list":{"0":"post-43383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-cotu","9":"tag-first-world","10":"tag-francis-atwoli","11":"tag-kenya","12":"tag-president-william-ruto","13":"tag-singapore","14":"tag-youth"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}