Speech by His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto, Phd., C.G.H on Mashujaa Day October 20, 2025

Abstract

President William Ruto’s 2025 Mashujaa Day Address pays tribute to the late former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga, honouring him as a national hero whose lifelong dedication to unity, democracy, stability, and nation-building helped shape Kenya’s path. Ruto reflects on Odinga’s values—putting country above self, promoting peace over division, embracing national unity beyond tribe and region, and maintaining unwavering optimism for Kenya’s future—presenting them as guiding lessons for the nation. He uses these reflections to outline Kenya’s next phase of development, highlighting four priorities: food security through irrigation and mega dams, value addition and industrialisation, massive expansion of energy capacity, and world-class infrastructure including highways and the SGR. The President concludes by posthumously awarding Odinga the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart (C.G.H.) and calling on Kenyans to honour his legacy by becoming a united, visionary, and ambitious nation.