Like a pen in a master’s hand, President William Ruto on Wednesday utilised the executive tools at his disposal to shut the engines of production for the whole country.

However, this should not be entirely unexpected given the missteps, failures and lack of clarity on response to a devastating flooding disaster.

What is certain is that the president’s response last week, while good-intentioned, may have been too little, too late. We will never know how many lives, of those lost, that could...