Four things Kenyans expect of the President in 2025

 

President William Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki arrive for a Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi on the 17/12/2024. The Cabinet approved the establishment of a presidential working group to develop a comprehensive approach to addressing femicide.[PCS,Standard]

President William Ruto was elected for his ability to make the tough decisions needed to get the country out of its parlous financial and economic straits. So far, he has performed well judging from established metrics of performance. These include, but are not limited to, the rate of inflation, the stability of the country’s currency and its forex reserves. That said, conscientious citizens are constrained to point out areas that the president may need to address in 2025. This column focuses on four such areas and crystallizes them into advice that citizens hope Dr Ruto will take cognizance of.

First, there should be no new taxes added to peoples’ pay slips. It has been necessary to make national sacrifices to pay down public debt that threatened to relegate the country to default status. But this has come at a great cost to the middle class that are now living in privation. Already, there are murmurs of discontent countrywide because the sacrifices made do not seem to be matched by visible, tangible benefits. To this end, the government should be mindful of the words of Irish poet YB Yeats; “too long a sacrifice makes a heart of stone”.

Second, abductions of dissenters must stop. Kenya is a nation governed by the rule of law. As the Inspector General of the Kenya Police Service mentioned in a recent statement, there are clear legal procedures for the arrest and prosecution of suspects of crime. Abductions and forced disappearances are immoral, reprehensible and point to a worrying return to extrajudicial and extra-constitutional reprisal of dissent. If, as the government says, it is not behind these actions, it is then an egregious failure of intelligence on the part of State security organs. A cardinal function of the government is to protect its citizens regardless of political affiliation. Anything less poses an existential risk to the continuity of Kenya as a nation.

Third, Kenyans want to see brick and mortar development. Whilst it is true that the economy is growing albeit at a slightly lower rate than predicted, citizens can only relate to such growth when it is publicly visible. Mwai Kibaki built Thika Superhighway that stands as testament to his achievements to date. Uhuru Kenyatta built the Standard Gauge Railway and the Nairobi Expressway. Low-hanging fruit for the Kenya Kwanza administration would be to fix the Great North Road; to improve on the Northern transport corridor from Mombasa to Malaba.

Fourth, the president may be well-advised to rejig his entire communications strategy.  He may want to stop being a one-man communications juggernaut and let his Cabinet secretaries and other State functionaries handle the chore of articulating mundane pronouncements. Stepping back will allow him to exercise plausible deniability where necessary and rid him of the ‘chronic liar’ tag that has hitherto characterised his presidency. In communications, perception informs reality. The Building Bridges Initiative failed because of perceptions that it was intended to benefit Kenya’s former president alone. Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment succeeded because Ruto maintained a studious silence so that it was seen as a purely parliamentary affair. Going forward, all communications from the president’s prodigiously talented team should focus on restoration of legitimacy through winning the hearts and minds of disaffected Kenyans.

Mr Khafafa is a public policy analyst