Deeds & Challenges of Kenya's President Who Marks First 100 Days in Office

As the incumbent Kenyan president on Thursday marks 100 days in office, Sputnik recalls his most prominent campaign pledges and emphasizes his most significant achievements as head of state so far.

Ruto's key promises during his presidential campaign mainly revolved around the economy, the state of ordinary citizens, rule of law, and keeping political pledges. His rhetoric, opinion on critical issues, as well as propositions on how to address them were apparently considered appealing and trustworthy by voters, as he came out on top in the country's presidential election. The greatest expectation from citizens was related to the economic revival of the country.

One of the main messages Ruto promoted during his campaign was his relation and attitude to the poor. He portrayed himself as a "hustler-in-chief" who sold chickens by the roadside before becoming who he is now. He stated that in his first months in office, he would do everything possible to bring down the cost of living in the country. Ruto pledged to target people from the lower class in future economic relief programs, empower Kenyans at the bottom, and make the ordinary person, their interests, and well-being a major priority of his administration.

In his campaign, Ruto focused on the most glaring problems, including the current severe food shortages in the country, promising to prioritize investments in the agriculture sector in order to enhance production locally, and reduce expensive food imports, thereby ensuring food security in the region. He would support the creation of agro-processing industries for farm inputs like animal feeds and fertilizers.

Ruto also pledged to review the country's current formula for allocating revenue and national budget, reform the security sector, and improve the well-being of public officers, particularly the police. As for his foreign policy approach, Ruto stated that he was going to adopt an Africa-focused foreign policy that strengthens relationships with other African nations in all areas of mutual interest, in particular security.

Kenya's incumbent president inherited a divided and indebted country, hit by inflation and a sliding currency, as well as droughts and food insecurity. This is how the newly-elected Ruto started to solve Kenya's urgent socio-economic dilemmas.

One of the main first steps in office was to address financial constraints in the East African nation. President Ruto's new administration reaffirmed its commitment to fiscal consolidation and adjustment, seeking to reach a lower overall fiscal deficit than the original budget. In his inaugural speech to parliament in September, Ruto announced a cut of Ksh 300 billion ($2.4 billion) to this year’s budget of Ksh 3.3 trillion ($26.8 billion), aiming to alleviate pressure on the exchequer.

The plan includes halting some fuel subsidies, in particular on petrol, as well as subsidies on food prices that were introduced by Ruto's predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, three weeks before the election and which reduced the price of some basic commodities almost by half. However, this has been considered by some critics an inefficient measure that could lead to higher inflation and interest rates. The country has been facing a record high inflation rate fluctuating around 9.5%, largely as a result of surging fuel and food prices.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently approved a $447.39 million loan to Kenya, which will be directed to the exchequer for budgetary support. This brings, according to the IMF, the cumulative disbursements under the organization's arrangements with Kenya to about $1.655 billion. The arrangements aim to support the country's program to tackle debt vulnerabilities, as well as efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic's effects and global shocks, and step up economic reforms.

In addition to the IMF loans, Kenya is now in talks with the World Bank Group for a $750 million concessional loan to be allocated until the end of June next year. The loan is expected to be part of the Ksh 280.7 billion ($2.3 billion) earmarked for external borrowing this fiscal year.

According to the IMF, Kenya's public debt has begun to level off due to fiscal consolidation measures taken by the government. However, it stated that the budget is experiencing increased pressure because of the last financial year's obligations, which were carried over, and a rise in unbudgeted expenditures earlier this year. The global lender highlighted that the country's economy is relatively stable, projecting a growth rate of 5.3% this year.

As the new administration seeks to bring the debt burden under control and improve the financial situation in the country, Ruto announced that annual tax collection will almost triple in five years, reaching Ksh 5 trillion ($40.6 billion). The government's plan aims to ease the financial burden, as the country now spends over half of its tax revenues on servicing its debt.

In a continuation of Kenya's efforts to relieve financial burdens, Ruto, on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit last week, announced that the government is ready to sell its entire 48.9% stake in the country’s loss-making airline. This year, Kenya Airways, one of the Africa's biggest airlines, defaulted on its loans, forcing its main shareholder to take up the obligations. However, the government is looking for companies that are willing to buy the airline. For instance, Ruto met top executives of Delta Air Lines, one of the largest US airlines in terms of market value. According to local media reports, the details of the meeting were not revealed.

As for the initial pledges to ensure the rule of law and democracy, this week the president reiterated that his administration is committed to building up the capacity of independent institutions in this field during a speech at the official opening ceremony of the National Police Leadership Academy in Ngong, southwest of Nairobi, in southern Kenya. The academy is expected to become a major center of excellence in providing security courses and training police contingents, with the goal of transforming police management in the country.

During the ceremony, Ruto noted that the government is set to ensure that the police service is qualified and professionalized to fully carry out its mandate of maintaining public safety and security.

He also highlighted that his administration will enhance its efforts to improve the working conditions of police officers in the country. In order to achieve this, he said that he had formed a taskforce to reveal the existing gaps within the police and develop reforms to seal them.

For instance, to ensure the police have financial resources to fulfill their mandate, the government is going to approve directives that will put the police budget under the Inspector General's Office. During his inauguration speech, as cited by local media, Ruto said that placing it under the president's office had led to patronage and corruption.

One of the most crucial objectives of the new administration lies in ensuring the safety of citizens in all respects, in particular food security. Kenya is currently facing severe food shortages as it experiences one of the harshest droughts the East African region has suffered in decades. In light of the current situation, concerns over potential famine are growing.

For this reason, the government decided to import genetically modified (GM) crops. In October, President William Ruto lifted the ban on GM crops that was imposed in 2012. The ban prohibited the open cultivation of GM crops and the importation of food crops and animal feeds produced through biotechnology innovation.

The decision, however, was criticized by environmental activists as controversial and constituting a threat to local farmers. Nevertheless, the government’s plans to allow the importation and distribution of GM crops were temporarily suspended, as the Kenyan High Court is pending a ruling on the lifting of the ban.

Moreover, the government eliminated import taxes on maize and rice for a period of six months in order to alleviate cereal scarcity and prevent a food crisis. Millions of tons of maize and rice were previously expected to be imported next year, while the Cabinet announced that this would happen in February to give farmers a head start in selling their products.

A newly-elected president's 100-day mark in office is widely perceived as a good occasion to give a preliminary assessment of their first steps and decisions, as they tend to set the pace and direction for the whole term of a presidency. However, it is still primarily an arbitrary and artificial milestone that has no constitutional or statutory significance.

The idea of evaluating a president's first 100 days dates back to the US during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Elected in the midst of the Great Depression, he actively started to undertake bold and new actions, both legislative and regulatory, which made him a president who is remembered for his first 100 days in office.

Since then, presidents in the US, as well as all over the world, have been evaluated for their performance in this short period. Roosevelt set the bar so high that few have lived up to it. Success in the first months of a presidency is usually a combination of skill and luck. It should be taken into account that it always takes time to get the country out of economic and political issues, regardless of who won the election.

The first 100 days is by no means the final verdict on a president's term, as they have years ahead to show and prove with concrete actions their commitment to serving the country and making people's lives better. There's nothing to do but wait and see whether the first impression based on such a short period during a presidency is correct, and whether the high expectations will eventually be lived up to in the long term.