Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma has added his voice to the ongoing discussion about the government’s role in maintaining a balance between publicising projects and service delivery.
In a statement via his X account on Saturday, February 22, 2025, the MP expressed his amazement with the lofty standard people seem to be holding the government against as far as executing its functions goes.
The MP further revealed his frustrations with a tendency to either oppose or belittle whatever development projects are being undertaken by the government.
Kaluma cited how plans to engage the public regarding Social Health Insurance (SHA) have been met with criticism amid calls for the need for more information regarding the same medical scheme.
“When the Government is quiet, it is said it is doing nothing – why is the government not communicating its service delivery programmes to the people? People don’t understand CBC, SHA etc! When the government outlines its programmes for public participation and feedback, it is met with – don’t advertise! What will @WilliamsRuto ever do that we’ll find acceptable?” he posed.
The topic dominated discussions around mainstream and social media on Friday following remarks made by the Catholic Diocese of Nyeri’s Archbishop Anthony Muheria while commenting on the government overhyping its projects instead of delivering.
In his attack on the government, the revered cleric urged the government to tone down on the advertisement and shift to actual governance and implementations of the very projects.
Stop advertising
“There has to be less rhetoric. We have to stop advertising and act. The government seems to be preoccupied with showcasing projects and plans, but governance is not about promotions—it is about execution. That is what we need to see,” Muheria stated.
There was an instant response from senior government officials with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi among those who responded to the cleric.
In his response on Friday, February 21 2025, Mudavadi said informing the public about national developments was standard practice globally, adding that failure to communicate effectively could be misconstrued as some form of dictatorship.
Wetangula responds to Muheria
On his part, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula said the cleric’s comments were borne out of ignorance.
Wetangula termed the government’s plan to showcase its projects to the people as a way of maintaining transparency and accountability over the use of public resources.
“Ukisema government is not an advertising agency, it means you have not read the constitution of Kenya, kwa sababu the constitution we refer to says the centrality are the people of Kenya so they must know and participate in everything we do.
“So as a government we have a duty to continue broadcasting whatever we do for all Kenyans to know from Vanga to Lokichogio, from Malava to Lamu,” he said
