Ole Kanchory: Ruto has done to Mbadi what he did to Wandayi on Adani
By Arnold Ngure, July 28, 2025Former Azimio coalition chief agent in the 2022 presidential election, Saitabao Ole Kanchory, has stated that President William Ruto has exposed Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, after he vowed that his government remains fully committed to ensuring universal access to education.
In a statement on Sunday, July 27, 2025, Kanchory noted that Ruto’s remarks mirrored the ones he made in cancelling the controversial Adani deal on November 21, 2024, after Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi vehemently supported it.
“William Ruto has done to Mbadi what he did to Opiyo on Adani. ODM and its ‘experts’ are being played like kids. Greed is bad,” Kanchory said.
Mbadi on funding education
On Thursday, July 24, 2025, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi admitted to the members of the Education Committee that the government could no longer fund free secondary and primary education in the country.
“The truth of the matter is, we don’t have the capacity to finance Free Primary Education and Free Day Secondary education. Let us not live a lie; the budget we approve cannot provide the Sh22,244 required per learner. This is not possible,” Mbadi said.
“The thing is, we have been underfunding the education sector. The government is failing to do this because of other competing needs such as the debt repayments, which we have been making as they are too high compared to before,” he added.
Ruto’s U-turn
Ruto, however, on Sunday, July 27, 2025, reassured Kenyans that free primary and secondary school education remains a constitutional right for all children in the country, following public uproar over proposals to scale back funding for the programme.
Speaking during a church service in Kariobangi on Sunday, July 27, 2025, the president emphasised that the government remains fully committed to ensuring universal access to education. He noted that in the last two years, significant efforts have been made to make education accessible and affordable for all learners.
“Elimu ya watoto wetu ni ya muhimu sana; nataka nihakikishie Wakenya ya kwamba free primary education for primary and secondary ni haki ya kikatiba ya wananchi wa taifa la Kenya,” Ruto said.