Challenges that have bogged down Uhuru’s first year

By Kenneth Kwama

Nairobi, Kenya: Exactly one year ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto took the oath of office in what was, on account of their ages, dubbed ‘the digital transition’.

But one long year later, the country has undergone a most severe economic storm, scary levels of insecurity and the distracting and disconcerting trial of the top two leaders for crimes against humanity in The Hague. 

Having kicked off their presidency on a controversial note springing from the contentious Supreme Court ruling on whether they met the 50+1 rule to avoid a rerun, one year later the Jubilee leaders clearly have not had time for a honeymoon.

Uhuru’s Government appears to have lurched from one crisis to another as the distance between the aspirations of his campaign and the Government’s actual performance continues to widen.

The rising public wage bill, insecurity and a host of questionable public procurement deals have combined to deliver an unexpected rocky start to what should have been Jubilee’s honeymoon year in office.

Equally unsettling for the coalition are claims by governors of attempts to kill devolution, the rising cost of living, inability to create new jobs and resistance by public servants to take salary cuts as it seeks to reduce the public wage bill, which at Sh458 billion, President Kenyatta says, is unsustainable.

As for its signature policy of providing computers for every child in Standard One, a procurement glitch linked to crafty manipulation of the initial tender, leading to a court case, may prevent the administration from delivering on the pledge probably until its third year in office.

The unedifying sequence of events has masked some key achievements like empowerment of women and youth, in which Jubilee has done more than any other previous Government – disbursing up to Sh1.8 billion to ensure close to 130,000 youths are engaged in income-generating activities.

Through the Transport ministry, work is in progress to streamline public transport, while newly introduced measures like Alcoblow, which tests drivers for alcohol levels and enforces stricter surveillance, has seen deaths through road accidents reduced by 21.8 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Public discontent is reflected in an opinion poll that was carried out by Ipsos-Synovate between February and March this year, which suggests the Government’s rating has slumped on account of issues where it is widely felt it has failed to deliver.

Consumers Federation of Kenya boss Stephen Mutoro said there had been some positive initiatives in the 12 months since the election, but public perception is not surprising “because there are so many elements to the cost of living the government has been unable to deliver on”.

“It has failed to guard consumers against price increments and imposed taxes on some basic commodities. The price of energy is going up and the country is unable to get external investors because the costs are too high. This means no new jobs will be created, instead the ones that were already there are being taken away,” argues Mutoro.

Fighting detractions

The steady rise in the prices of basic commodities is a testimony to the rising cost of living and 50 per cent of respondents in the Ipsos-Synovate poll identified the high cost of living as an issue that the Jubilee Government needs to address as it begins its second year in office.

But former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi says it is too soon to judge the Government because most of the Jubilee leaders’ time has been spent fighting detractions.

“They came into office under a spell of doubt, shadow of The Hague cases and were confronted with serious fire fighting to remain afloat; a cynical bureaucracy, a cloud of labour unrest, old corruption habits and escalating insecurity. A lot of energy has been expended towards these detractions. You can imagine what shape you are in when constructing a house on an unstable foundation,” said Mudavadi.

Indeed, one year may be too short to evaluate and judge the performance of a government that has a five-year mandate, but some of the issues being used to gauge their performance such as the delivery of the laptops for Standard One pupils, which has been labelled as unrealistic in the current economic circumstances, were of the Government’s own making — or, at least, that of those who crafted the Jubilee manifesto.