All retired presidents eventually get an upgrade with regard to public perception.
For example, the Congolese remember Mobutu Sese Seko for investing in a Congolese national identity - a fact that enables a healthy discounting of his three decades of murderous kleptocracy.
Here at home, presidents Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, and Mwai Kibaki have since seen their legacies rehabilitated to accentuate their achievements and downplay their failures.
Presidential rehabilitations are about to take time. Which is why it is rather interesting that former President Uhuru Kenyatta is already seeing his legacy rehabilitated barely a year after he left office.
Most Kenyans recall his administration's mishandling of the economy. The Jubilee government borrowed with careless abandon and squandered most of the borrowed money on projects with little overall economic impact.
Reforms under his watch gutted the health and education sectors. He barely made any investments in agriculture, the most important sector for the vast majority of our people.
And when the pandemic arrived on our shores the best his administration could do was mint one scandal after another, even as Kenyans died and suffered the consequences of a shuttered global economy.
All that appears to matter little when compared to life under President William Ruto's administration.
Instead, nostalgia for Kenyatta's tenure is rising.
Ruto's public opinion challenges appear to stem from tax hikes, failure to honour specific promises, apparent disregard for the rule of law, and general deterioration of the overall economic situation.
Inflation has slowed down, but price levels remain high. The shilling is tanking. Corruption remains as high as ever. Meanwhile, government officials - from the president to members of county assemblies in the Kenya Kwanza coalition - appear not able to make any credible promises.
There is not a single sector the president can objectively claim to have improved. His only achievement so far will be the avoidance of debt default - which is important, for sure, but not readily impactful in Kenyans' everyday lives.
All this to say that President Ruto's woes are not just a PR problem. Kenyans are hurting, while his officials live high on the hog at Kenyans' expense.
At the same time, it is obvious to everyone that the promise of a complete restricting of our political economy to make it work for the common mwananchi, was just hot air.
The writer is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University
