The issue lies in critics expecting him to accomplish a five-year task within just one year.” Ruto’s allies say

• ^{During the inauguration, the president delivered an eloquent speech filled with pledges aimed at offering hope to the numerous individuals burdened by the soaring cost of living.”}
• ^{While the president’s supporters have hailed his performance as exceptional, detractors have labeled his track record up to this point as a major letdown.”}

President William Ruto’s one-year performance as Kenya’s 5th president has generated a range of opinions. Exactly one year ago today, Ruto assumed the presidency following a hotly contested election, celebrated with a grand inauguration at the packed Kasarani Stadium, which seats 60,000 people.

Ruto secured victory after 4 years of intensive populist campaigning, primarily targeting the everyday individuals, often referred to as ‘hustlers’ and ‘go-getters,’ despite facing strong opposition from the state-backed Azimio candidate, Raila Amollo Odinga.

During his inauguration, President Ruto delivered an inspiring speech filled with promises, aiming to instill hope in the population grappling with the high cost of living. These commitments closely mirrored his ‘Kenya Kwanza’ manifesto, centered around the bottom-up economic model, which envisioned a transformative plan for the nation.

” our people are confronted daily with increasingly unaffordable prices, especially food and transport. It calls for an urgent and decisive resolution”, Ruto said.

 

” Education policy is a mess. The CBC experiment has not stabilize and other efforts to reform higher education sector have failed,” Kajwang said.

” Even though the price of food has gone down ,not because of any government intervention, but because of rains, everything else is expensive because we are importing most of the things using dollar and as such, the coast of living is still high, he said.
In his strategy for addressing the soaring cost of living, the president vowed to offer sufficient, reasonably priced working funds and additional incentives to boost food   production.

 

” The cost of living that we are experiencing can only be resolved by raising agricultural productivity,” the Kenya Kwanza manifesto States.

Ruto committed to supplying ample, affordable working capital to all farmers via cooperative associations and implementing advanced agricultural risk management tools to make farming lucrative with predictable incomes. The president also pledged to convert two million impoverished farmers into surplus producers through financial support for inputs and intensive agricultural extension services, with the goal of generating a minimum income of 50,000 shillings per acre.
He pledged to raise the productivity of key value food chains , for instance , increasing the number of bags of maize per acre from eight to Fifteen. A year later, the cost of living has remained a thorn in the flesh for the president , despite the government ‘s rollout and promises to lower it.
The government has distributed more than Five Million bags of subsidized fertilizer to registered farmers countrywide.
Initially, prices were reduces from sh6,500 to sh3,500 per bag. This declined either to sh2,500 in what President Ruto says reduces the burden on the farmer and motivates him and her to produce more.

 

However, the cost of living has remained high- if not virtually unaffordable for many Kenyans. The price for maize flour has stalled at about 200per kg for the longest time. A 2kg bag 0f sugar has ballooned to about sh500 from about sh300 a year ago. This is the case with the other basic commodities.
The situation has been worsened by the removal of sugar subsidy and doubling of the VAT on fuel from eight to Ten Percent in the recently enacted Finance Act ,2013. Earlier , gains were nullified by the high cost of fuel and end of subsidized maize flour, critics said.
He made a commitment to boost the efficiency of critical food supply chains, such as increasing maize production from eight to fifteen bags per acre. However, a year later, the president is still grappling with the persistent issue of high living costs, despite the government’s initiatives and assurances to reduce them.
The government has distributed over five million subsidized fertilizer bags to registered farmers across the country. Initially, prices were reduced from 6,500 shillings to 3,500 shillings per bag, and later to 2,500 shillings, which President Ruto claims eases the financial burden on farmers and encourages them to produce more.

” we are supporting farmers with fertilizer and seeds and an additional 2000,000 acres has been put into production, ” the President said in May.

He made a commitment to boost the efficiency of critical food supply chains, such as increasing maize production from eight to fifteen bags per acre. However, a year later, the president is still grappling with the persistent issue of high living costs, despite the government’s initiatives and assurances to reduce them.

The government has distributed over five million subsidized fertilizer bags to registered farmers across the country. Initially, prices were reduced from 6,500 shillings to 3,500 shillings per bag, and later to 2,500 shillings, which President Ruto claims eases the financial burden on farmers and encourages them to produce more.
Nevertheless, the cost of living remains high and often unaffordable for many Kenyans. The price of maize flour has remained stagnant at around 200 shillings per kilogram for an extended period. A 2-kilogram bag of sugar has surged to about 500 shillings from 300 shillings a year ago, and this trend extends to other essential commodities.

This situation has been exacerbated by the elimination of sugar subsidies and the doubling of VAT on fuel from eight to ten percent in the recently passed Finance Act of 2013. Critics argue that earlier gains were negated by the high cost of fuel and the end of subsidized staple foods.
The President made a commitment to offer accessible financial support in order to improve the economic prospects of small-scale businesses like mama mboga, boda-boda riders, and Kinyozi, who are part of the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.

“An estimated 10 million informal MSME operators and workers generate less than Sh5,000 income per month on average , which is below the living wage of one person,” the Kenya Kwanza manifesto states.

As a result, the President promised to allocate an annual amount of sh50 million to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by ensuring they have full access to affordable financial resources via Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Sacco’s), venture capital, equity funds, and long-term debt for both startup companies and SMEs focused on expansion. Additionally, he committed to legalizing work through the introduction of a right-to-work law, granting every citizen who applies the privilege of obtaining trading licenses and access to trading locations.

” we will review and rationalize all business licenses, cap total licenses at 1.5 per cent of turnover and enact administrative burden law,” the Kenya kwanza manifesto states.

Further the president pledged to embark on massive social housing program  by constructing at least 250,000units every year.
The Sh150 billion program is aimed at creating jobs for millions of jobless youths and reduce the huge housing deficit.

The government has yet to fully roll out the program. In addition, the project has been criticized for the introduction of aSh1.5 per cent housing levy.
On health care , Ruto’s Kenya kwanza promised to deliver universal health coverage ” in the shortest time possible “
They promised to roll out a fully publicly financed primary healthcare focusing on preventive , promotive, outpatient and basic diagnostic services.
Ruto pledged to introduce a universal seamless health insurance system comprising mandatory national insurance (NHIF) and private insurance as complementary covers, with NHIF as the primary and private as secondary cover.

Further, Kenya kwanza promised to establish a national fund for chronic and catastrophic illness and injury costs not covered (or with very restrictive cover) by insurance.
The government has yet to roll out UHC as pledged. This is the case with the funding of chronic diseases.
However, the state has drafted up to four bills that seek to anchor UHC. They mainly focus on primary healthcare, health insurance , health facilities and digital provision the services.
In the the Social Health Insurance Bill ,2023, the government creates the social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) to replace NHIF.
The bill changes the contribution model towards SHIF, from the current flat rate of Sh1,700 to a percentage of One’s Salary, a move that has triggered fierce criticism.
The bills, which have been cleared by the cabinet, are undergoing public participation before they are sent to parliament for consideration.
On the digital super highway, Kenya Kwanza pledged to enhance government service delivery through digitalization and automation of all government critical processes and make available 80 per cent of government services online.
The coalition also pledged to increase and fast-track broadband connectivity across the country by the construction of 100,000 km of national fiber optic connectivity network.

Already, the ministry of ICT and Digital has moved to digitize the more than 5,000 government services. The services have been uploaded unto the citizen platform.
The government also embarked on roll out of free Wi-Fi in public places, including market centers.

The president promised to initiate a significant social housing program, aiming to build a minimum of 250,000 housing units annually. This 150 billion Shilling program’s primary goals are to generate employment for unemployed youth and alleviate the substantial housing shortage.
” we will achieve this by structuring affordable long- term housing finance schemes , including a. National Housing Fund and cooperative Social Housing Schemes, to guarantee offtake of houses from developers,” the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto states.

However, the government has not fully implemented this program yet, and it has faced criticism for introducing a 1.5% housing levy.

Regarding healthcare, Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza promised to achieve universal health coverage as quickly as possible. They planned to establish publicly funded primary healthcare services that focus on prevention, promotion, outpatient care, and basic diagnostics. Ruto also pledged to create a universal health insurance system, combining mandatory national insurance (NHIF) with private insurance as complementary coverage. Additionally, they aimed to establish a national fund to cover chronic and catastrophic illness expenses not adequately addressed by insurance.

Unfortunately, the government has not fully delivered on its promise of universal health coverage, especially in the funding of chronic diseases. However, they have drafted several bills related to primary healthcare, health insurance, health facilities, and digital service provision, which are currently undergoing public participation before consideration in parliament.

On the digital front, Kenya Kwanza committed to improving government service delivery through digitalization and automating critical processes, with the goal of making 80% of government services accessible online. They also planned to expand broadband connectivity across the country by building a national fiber optic network spanning 100,000 kilometers.

Progress has been made in digitizing over 5,000 government services, which are now available on the citizen platform. Additionally, the government has started rolling out free Wi-Fi in public places, including market centers.
_{by Chief Advisa Official
13th September 2023}