Hits and misses as Ruto struggles to steer the nation

When President William Ruto engaged with Kenyans living in diaspora during his trip to Berlin, Germany. [PCS]

Controller of Budget, the President spent nearly Sh300 million on foreign travel in the last financial year.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance Delivery and Management, Eliud Owalo, recently listed a list of achievements of the Kenya Kwanza government over the last two years.

They included leaps in the agriculture, health, housing, micro small and medium enterprises sectors. Indeed, a fertiliser subsidy, alongside favourable weather conditions, have helped boost agricultural productivity, reducing the price of unga significantly.

“For him to take credit for the drop in unga prices would mean he is taking credit for the rains,” said development economist Timothy Njagi.

“The fertiliser subsidy gave farmers some relief but the model of its distribution was bad. They should have gone through agrovet dealers and not the National Cereals and Produce Board, which has created a situation in which the government competes with the private sector,” added Dr Njagi.

The number of affordable housing units has also gone up, with Owalo’s report stating that there are more than 100,000 units constructed since the initiative began.

In health, the enlisting of community health promoters promises to enhance primary healthcare.

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The public has, however, struggled to identify the government’s achievements, with Kenya Kwanza’s failures sparking the Gen Z protests. Ruto has been adamant that his government’s failure has largely been on communicating its successes and he recently tapped Owalo to bridge the communication divide.

But the issues stretch beyond mere communication. For instance, the Affordable Housing Project has been unpopular among working-class Kenyans given they are forced to part with a portion of their pay to fund the programme that government functionaries have struggled to defend. Reports that the fund has invested in Treasury bonds cemented the assertion that the project was rushed.

That has been an apparent weakness of Ruto who always seems in a hurry to implement new policies. They include the new university funding model that has locked out many deserving young Kenyans from accessing higher education.

Then there is the new health insurance scheme, which also promises higher deductions and will likely spark more protests.

The Hustler Fund, though successful, was initially sold as a grant, disenfranchising Kenyans when it was later converted into a loan.

And the President has struggled to reduce unemployment, with his aggressive tax policies pushing businesses to close.