Watch: President Ruto drives tractor with no registration number
President William Samoei Ruto was spotted joining his farm hands on April 8, 2023 to prepare one of his pieces of land ahead of planting season.
In several photos and videos uploaded to social media by blogger and Chief Administrative Secretary Dennis Itumbi, President Ruto was also seen operating a tractor – Case IH JX75 MaxPro – that pulled a plough.
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Dressed casually in blue denim trousers, ankle boots, a cowboy hat, and sunglasses, the President was spotted fixing the ploughs, removing obstacles from it, and driving along the farm as he ploughed.
It was also noticeable that the vehicle’s registration details, popularly known as number plates, were not attached to the front and back of the heavy machinery.
For this reason alone, the President is liable to pay a fine of Sh 300,000 or serve a jail term not exceeding one year- according to the Traffic Act 2016.
Number plates are a form of security and law enforcement feature used to govern motorists as they reveal who owns the vehicle and how they could be located in the event a traffic issue arises regarding a particular vehicle.
“A person who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or both,” states the Act in part.
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Despite driving on private property and not on major roads, the Act states that it is illegal to operate a vehicle that does not have number plates in Kenya. It also remains to be seen if the sitting head of State would be penalized by the National Transport and Safety Authority for violating the law.
President William Ruto is a renowned farmer who farms at large-scale levels. He is a chicken and dairy farmer who also farms maize.
Heavy rains in Kenya have heralded planting season and farmers are busy planting maize and cereals in the North Rift and Western Kenya in a bid to improve productivity and lower the cost of food.
The government issued subsidized fertilizer to reduce the cost of production and continue to provide this support in some parts of Kenya, especially Mount Kenya region, thought to be the bread basket of Kenya.
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Watch the president drive the tractor in the post below.
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