President William Ruto has defended his administration’s record as he marked four years since he was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president on September 13, 2022, pointing to economic stability, infrastructure development, agriculture, education and healthcare reforms.
Speaking at a church service in Kisumu on Sunday, Ruto said the government had inherited an economy burdened by debt, high inflation, a volatile exchange rate and low foreign exchange reserves, but claimed significant improvements had since been made.
“I can confidently say our economy is stable. We have reduced inflation. Exchange rates have stabilized. Our foreign exchange reserves have grown two and a half times, and today the economy of Kenya is the sixth largest economy in Africa,” he said.
On infrastructure, Ruto said his administration had cleared nearly Sh250 billion owed to road contractors, allowing stalled projects to resume.
“Today, with confidence again, I can say all the contractors that had left sites have come back. We have 6,000 kilometres of tarmac going on in every part of the Republic of Kenya,” he said.
He said the government was also up to date with payments to road contractors and would launch some projects in the region in the following days.
Ruto also highlighted agriculture, saying the government had reduced the price of fertiliser from Sh7,000 to Sh2,000 while addressing problems in the sugar sector and what he described as cartels and brokers.
“Today we have transformed our agriculture,” he said, adding that dairy, coffee, tea and sugarcane farmers were earning more than they did four years ago.
On education, the President said the government had hired nearly 100,000 teachers and built 23,000 classrooms, while changing the university funding model.
“We have transformed our education sector,” Ruto said.
He also defended the Social Health Authority, saying 33 million Kenyans had been registered and could access treatment on the same day after registration.
“Today, every facility in the Republic of Kenya, health centre, dispensary, level three, level four, level five, level six, receive money from SHA every month,” he said.
Ruto began his four-day Nyanza tour in Kisumu on Sunday, with the programme also taking him to Siaya, Migori and Homa Bay for project inspections and launches.
His remarks came on the fourth anniversary of his inauguration at Kasarani Stadium, where he took over as Kenya’s fifth president after winning the August 9, 2022 election.