Ruto, Sifuna trade barbs in escalating 'chicken' feud over affordable housing

President William Ruto and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna are embroiled in a tense exchange over the government's flagship affordable housing programme.

The political clash erupted after Senator Sifuna criticized the high-rise residential buildings being constructed under Ruto's housing initiative.

Speaking during a radio interview on July 22, 2026, Sifuna questioned the cultural and practical suitability of multi-storey units for rural and traditional communities, finding the model unsuitable especially to people of his Luhya community. 

Invoking chicken, a much-loved delicacy and livestock of choice amongst people of the Western region, Sifuna cheekily poked holes into the idea behind the high-rise buildings, noting that chicken would encounter trouble accessing the highest floors. 

"As people from the Western Region, we cannot live in places where our chicken cannot enter. How will our chicken get to the 12th floor of an affordable housing unit?" he wondered.

Responding to Sifuna's remarks during a public address at State House on July 23, 2026, President Ruto did not mince words while defending the affordable housing programme. 

Undeterred, the Head of State dismissed Sifuna's arguments as absurd and lacking in good judgement.

"So you are telling us not to build affordable houses because your chicken cannot get to the 12th floor? I have said it before, there are people without brains. How do you even say something like that?" Ruto posed.

Unfazed by the President's harsh rebuke, Sifuna took to X to deliver a sharp retort, referencing his community's well-known background as poultry keepers and Nyandarua Senator John Methu’s famous association with potato farming. 

"Arguing with me about chicken matters is like arguing with Methu about potatoes," Sifuna shot back. 

The response quickly trended online, fueling further public debate surrounding the government's housing policy and the cultural dynamics of urban development in Kenya.

One Kenyan replied: "Ruto himself instructed the police to shoot us in the legs. How are we going to access the 12th floor with wounded legs?"