President William Ruto invoked Scripture on Tuesday, quoting Proverbs 13:22 to remind Kenyans that “the Bible says a good man must leave an inheritance for his children’s children,” while urging citizens to embrace hard work and long-term planning for generational wealth.
The remarks came during the groundbreaking of a Sh2.4 billion milk processing plant in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County, where the head of state blended spiritual counsel with economic vision for the region’s dairy farmers.
Speaking to locals and cooperative leaders, President Ruto stressed that true prosperity goes beyond personal comfort. “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. That means we must think beyond today.
Plant trees whose shade we may never sit under, build businesses that our grandchildren will run, and save so that poverty ends with our generation,” he said, drawing loud applause from the crowd gathered under a bright Rift Valley sun.
The President tied the biblical principle to practical policy, announcing that the new Moiben plant, funded through a public-private partnership, will create 1,200 direct jobs and boost milk prices for over 40,000 smallholder farmers by 2027. “This is how we build inheritance.
Not just money in the bank, but factories, irrigation schemes, and value addition that keep producing wealth long after we are gone,” Ruto added, linking the project to his Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Economists note that President Ruto’s Bible inheritance quote arrives amid growing national conversations on wealth creation. Kenya’s savings rate remains below 12 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest in East Africa, while youth unemployment hovers near 40 per cent.
“Countries like Singapore and South Korea built generational wealth through deliberate long-term saving cultures. Kenya can do the same if we start now,” he explained.
The President also used the platform to launch a county-wide cooperative revitalisation drive, promising government seed capital of Sh500 million for dairy, maize, and avocado societies in Uasin Gishu alone. “Join saccos, buy shares in these processing plants, and in twenty years your children will inherit dividends, not debts,” he urged, referencing successful models like Githunguri Dairy that have turned ordinary farmers into millionaires.
First Lady Rachel Ruto, who accompanied her husband, echoed the message during a separate women’s forum at a nearby church. “As mothers, we carry the burden of tomorrow. Let us teach our children to work hard, save wisely, and fear God,” she said, receiving a standing ovation from hundreds of mama mboga and teachers.
For many in the crowd, the President’s words struck deep. “I lost my father young and inherited nothing but love. Today I heard a challenge to change that story for my own kids,” said 38-year-old milk vendor Emily Chepkoech, clutching a notebook where she jotted down saccos to join.
As bulldozers began clearing land for the new plant, President Ruto’s fusion of faith and finance left a lasting imprint. In a nation where instant gratification often overshadows legacy-building, the call to work not just for today but for grandchildren yet unborn may prove one of his most enduring messages of the term. For the farmers of Moiben, the ground broken was more than concrete; it was a foundation for the inheritance Scripture demands and a nation desperately needs.