Some 16 months ago, President William Ruto defied the odds to secure victory in the hotly contested presidential election of August 9, 2022.
Regarded as an underdog in the race that pitted him against long-serving opposition leader Raila Odinga, the then-deputy president rode to power with an ambitious manifesto aimed at uplifting the lives of the downtrodden, whom he fondly referred to as ‘hustlers’.
More than a year later, it has been a mixed bag of fortunes for the common man as the chief hustler struggles to steer the ship called Kenyan economy through turbulent waters.
In this article, we take a look at President Ruto’s hits and misses over the last 12 months.
HITS
Fertiliser subsidy
President Ruto rolled out a fertiliser subsidy programme immediately after he was sworn into office in September last year.
The Head of State directed the release of Ksh3.5 billion to cushion farmers against the high cost of fertiliser in the country with the hope of increasing production and bringing down the cost of living.
The Ministry of Agriculture promised to make available 1.4 million bags of fertiliser with the funding, selling each bag for Ksh3,500 instead of the previous price of Ksh6,500.
In August 2023, President Ruto launched the second phase of the fertiliser programme, slashing the prices of the commodity by a further 29 per cent ahead of the planting season.
In an address to the nation on August 2, President Ruto said that the price of a 50kg bag of fertiliser will be reduced from Ksh3,500 to Ksh2,500 effective August 1, 2023.
“Today, I am proud to announce the commencement of the second phase of our programme. On this leg, we shall begin by immediately bringing down the price of fertiliser from Ksh3,500 to Ksh2,500 per 50 kg bag,” he said.
In October, the Head of State expressed confidence that, thanks to the fertiliser subsidy programme, Kenya would achieve food security by 2025 and cease maize imports.
”We don’t want to import maize ever again from another country. Next year will be the last year that we will be importing maize. From 2025, we won’t import even a single sack of maize. All the maize will be produced in Kenya,” he added.
Hustler Fund
The Kenya Kwanza administration rolled out the Hustler Fund, a small government loan scheme, in November last year. The government promised to launch a new product after every four months to empower Kenyans to do business by safeguarding them against shylocks charging unreasonably high-interest rates.
The initial ksh50 billion kitty allowed Kenyans to access a personal loan of between Ksh500 to Ksh50,000 at an annual interest of 8.0 per cent.
In February, Cooperatives and MSME Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui announced increased borrowing limits by up to 100 per cent for more than six million subscribers.
In June, President Ruto launched the Hustler Fund’s second product known as the Hustler Group Loan.
Speaking during Madaraka Day celebrations held at Moi Stadium in Embu County on Thursday, June 1, 2021, Ruto stated that the Hustler Group Loan would help Kenyans access funding through groups such as chamas and saccos.
The product enables groups of at least 10 people to access loans of between Ksh20,000 and Ksh1 million.
Talanta Hela
Ruto’s administration unveiled the Talanta Hela programme in February this year to monetize sports and creative talents.
Ababu Namwamba, the Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, stated that the project aligns with the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda. Its goal is to identify, recruit, nurture, market, and monetize talent.
PHOTO/(@moyasa_ke)/X
The inaugural Talanta Hela awarding ceremony went down at the Talanta Plaza in Upper Hill, Nairobi, on September 1, 2023.
During the ceremony, attended by President Ruto, athletes who represented the country in the World Athletic Championship in Budapest were feted.
Faith Kipyegon was awarded Ksh4 million for winning two gold medals in 1500m and 5000m competitions while Mary Moraa bagged Ksh2 million for winning the 800m race.
Malkia strikers were also awarded a cheque of Ksh4 million for winning the Africa Women’s Volleyball Championship in Cameroon.
Industrial Parks
Early this year the national government set aside Ksh4.7 billion for the construction of aggregation and industrial parks in all 47 counties to promote manufacturing.
The counties also committed a similar amount to the project which is a partnership between the regional governments and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.
So far 18 counties have appended their signatures to the intergovernmental agreement which will see each of the devolved unit set aside Ksh250 million towards the project.
The counties are Busia, Embu, Garissa, Homa Bay, Kirinyaga, Meru, Mombasa, Murang’a, Nakuru, Nandi, Nyamira, Siaya, Uasin Gishu, Migori, Kiambu, Trans Nzoia, Machakos and Bungoma.
President Ruto said in August that the project will unlock the industrial potential of the counties, broaden opportunities for Kenyans and boost economic growth.
“This project will create over 50,000 jobs and reduce poverty in this region,” Ruto said during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Nyamira County Aggregation and Industrial Park.
“This facility will offer cold storage and value addition facilities for bananas, avocado, coffee and vegetables to help farmers maximise their earnings,” he said.
MISSES
Despite the notable achievements, President Ruto appeared to backtrack on some of his pre-election pledges.
Cost of living
The cost of living remains high despite the President’s commitment to lower prices of basic commodities within the first 100 days in office.
Increased taxes and levies are partly to blame for the high cost of living.
Despite a pledge to lower taxes on fuel, President Ruto’s administration pushed for the increase of Value Adde Tax (VAT) on petroleum products from 8 to 16 per cent through the Finance Bill in June.
A total of 184 MPs, a majority from the Kenya Kwanza side, voted in favour of the proposal to double VAT on fuel despite strong opposition from Kenyans and the Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition camp.
The Kenya Kwanza government’s move to scrap fuel subsidies introduced by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta last year also contributed to the prices of the precious commodity crossing the Ksh200 mark per litre in September.
Ruto’s government blames the high fuel prices on global factors, including the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In a joint media interview this month, Ruto urged Kenyans complaining about the high fuel price to exercise patience saying, “No miracle is going to happen.”
Also, the price of a 2-kilogram packet of unga has not dropped significantly despite President Ruto’s fertiliser subsidy and promise of a bumper harvest.
Kenyans had hoped for the price of maize flour to drop below Ksh100, but the commodity is currently retailing at about Ksh160, down from Ksh230 last year.
New Taxes
The government has also in recent months introduced numerous taxes and levies including the 1.5 per cent Housing Levy which has made life unbearable for most salaried workers. The move earned Ruto the nickname of Zakayo, from the biblical tax collector.
In November, Ruto’s administration sparked outrage from members of the public after announcing plans to significantly increase fees for key government services including applications for birth certificates, identity cards (IDs) and passports.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithire Kindiki was forced to revoke the gazette notice announcing the new fees days later following widespread outcry.
Kindiki said the gazette notice had been withdrawn to allow for more public participation.
While most of the proposed charges remained the same, the CS announced that plans to introduce a Ksh1,000 fee for first-time ID applications had been reviewed. In the new proposal, Kenyans will now pay Ksh300 to acquire IDs. The service was previously offered at no cost.
Kindiki further noted that the government would meet the costs of Kenyans who demonstrate inability to raise the proposed fees.
eCitizen charges
In yet another directive set to strain the pockets of many Kenyans, the government recently announced a nominal administrative fee for government services on the eCitizen digital platform.
The charges took effect on December 14, according to a gazette notice signed by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u.
PHOTO/(@eCitizen)
The charges range from Ksh5 to Ksh50 and vary depending on the user’s transaction.
Affordable gas cylinders promise
In March this year, President Ruto promised to reduce the cost of a 6-kilogram gas cylinder to a low of between Ksh300 and Ksh500 by June as part of efforts to promote the use of clean energy in the country.
To implement this, the Head of State said his government would remove tax on the cylinders and make them affordable to all Kenyan households.
“Among the 70% of Kenyans who use firewood and charcoal, 99% of them are women and in order to reduce the gas prices we will remove the 8% that the government charges in taxes. The gas cylinders you buy will move from Ksh2800 to Ksh300 or Ksh500 from June,” President Ruto said at the re-launch of the Women Enterprise Fund at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on March 2, 2023.
President Ruto is yet to deliver on this promise.
Shilling on free fall
The official exchange rate of the shilling against the dollar crossed the 150-unit mark in October despite President Ruto’s pledge to ensure it stabilises.
The President had in April expressed optimism that the dollar exchange rate would drop below Ksh120, down from Ksh134.
Ruto assured that the drop would be aided by the move to purchase oil products using the Kenyan shilling as opposed to the dollar.
“Today as a country we can buy fuel in Kenyan shillings, something that many people never thought would be possible. From this month of April, all our fuel marketers will be able to buy our fuel products in Kenya shillings and it will reduce pressure on our dollars,” Ruto said.
“In fact in the next one month or so you will see the dollar exchange rate coming down in a very phenomenal way. In fact in my estimation, in the next couple of months, the exchange rate will come below Ksh120, maybe Ksh115.”
He spoke on April 11 during the release of the report on the evaluation of the performance of ministries, state corporations and tertiary institutions for the 2021/2022 financial year at KICC in Nairobi.
In response to increasing criticism, Ruto, during a joint interview with the media on December 17, insisted that the G-to-G oil deal had helped stabilize the exchange rate.
“If I hadn’t structured the G-to-G deal, the dollar today maybe would be at 250,” he asserted.
