President William Ruto has put economic recovery and job creation at the heart of his defence of the government’s performance, challenging his critics to measure his record against the promises he made before the 2022 election.
Ruto said Kenyans should not judge his administration through political attacks but by examining its manifesto and development plan and determining whether the commitments made to voters had been met.
The President spoke in Kapsoit, Kericho County, on Friday during a stopover, where he listed achievements in the economy, agriculture, healthcare, education and employment as evidence of progress under his administration.
“I am ready to be held to account for the commitments I made to the people of Kenya,” he said, calling on his political opponents to go through the government’s election pledges and compare them with its performance.
Ruto said the government had succeeded in stabilising the economy, citing a reduction in inflation and interest rates as some of the changes made since taking office.
He also said the country’s foreign exchange reserves had doubled, while reforms in agriculture had improved the income earned by farmers.
Healthcare was another area the President used to defend his record, pointing to the transition from the National Health Insurance Fund to the Social Health Authority.
Ruto said SHA had dealt with some of the delays associated with the former system, where patients could wait for months before accessing medical services.
“Today, SHA benefits and sends money to every facility in Kenya, from level one to level six,” he said.
He argued that the new health financing system had widened access by ensuring facilities across the country received funds to support the delivery of services.
The President also highlighted changes in the education sector, including efforts to reorganise the competency-based curriculum, increase teacher recruitment, introduce a new funding model and expand classroom facilities.
“We have streamlined CBC. We have streamlined teacher employment. We have hired more teachers. We have changed the funding model and made sure that there are enough classrooms,” he said.
Ruto further pointed to the housing programme as a major source of employment, saying construction of houses, hostels and markets had provided work for about 1.1 million young people.
He said the government’s labour export initiative had opened opportunities for another 680,000 young Kenyans to work abroad, while about 300,000 others had secured digital jobs.
The President said the next phase of the government’s employment plan would focus on creating between three million and four million additional jobs for young people over the next two to three years.
“Our plan is to make sure that in the next two, three years, we have up to four million young people working in different spaces so that our young people can contribute their talent, their expertise and their knowledge in the transformation of our country,” he said.
Ruto maintained that the final assessment of his administration would be made by voters based on what it promised and what it delivered.
“The people of Kenya will judge us on account of the commitments we made and on account of our delivery,” he said.
He then turned his criticism to his political rivals, accusing former President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Baringo Senator Gideon Moi and the Standard Group of supporting an opposition movement that he claimed had no clear programme for Kenya.
Ruto challenged his opponents to stop concentrating on attacking his administration and instead tell Kenyans what they would do differently if given the opportunity to lead the country.