President William Ruto has given his administration a positive scorecard, declaring that the Kenya Kwanza government has performed exceptionally well in delivering on most of its manifesto commitments.
Speaking on Monday while presiding over a joint broad-based parliamentary group meeting in Naivasha, Ruto highlighted agriculture, education, healthcare and the economy as some of the sectors where he said his administration had made significant progress since taking office in 2022.
On agriculture, the President cited the fertiliser subsidy programme, registration of farmers, efforts to tackle cartels, improved farm-gate prices and the opening of new international markets as key achievements.
“We have done exceptionally well in agriculture, whether it is fertiliser subsidy, registering farmers, dealing with cartels, improving farmer prices, opening new markets,” Ruto said.
He said Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui had played a key role in negotiating new markets for Kenyan products, helping exporters access international markets at competitive prices.
“We can proudly speak about our track record on matters agriculture and farmers and pastoralists will be our witnesses,” Ruto said.
Since 2022, Kenya has advanced several international trade agreements and market-access arrangements aimed at expanding opportunities for agricultural and horticultural exporters.
Among them is the Kenya-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement, which provides Kenyan exporters with duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union market. The arrangement is particularly important for exporters of flowers, coffee, tea, fruits and vegetables.
Kenya has also secured a zero-tariff “Early Harvest” arrangement with China, allowing 98.2 per cent of Kenyan exports to enter the Chinese market duty-free.
Ruto also pointed to education as another area where he said the government had made substantial progress, citing reforms to the curriculum, learner funding and efforts to address teacher shortages.
“We can proudly face the nation today and say we have done what was required of us,” he said.
The President said the country now had more teachers and classrooms, an improved curriculum and a funding model designed to cater for the needs of every learner.
On healthcare, Ruto said the number of Kenyans covered under the government’s Universal Health Coverage programme had increased, arguing that the expansion was bringing the administration closer to its UHC ambition.
He said health facilities across the country, including those in remote areas, were now receiving funds through the Social Health Authority, which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund.
Ruto also cited reforms in the retirement savings sector, saying they had placed Kenya on a stronger path towards improving financial security for citizens in their later years.
“We did re-arrange the structure. The nation of Kenya today can proudly say we have raised our savings in the National Social Security Fund from Sh312 billion to Sh680 billion and by June next year we will have reached the target of Sh1 trillion,” he said.
The President further pointed to expanded access to credit, saying about seven million Kenyans had been removed from credit listing, giving them a renewed opportunity to access financial services and grow their businesses.
“We’ve made more people access credit, interest rates have come down, exchange rates have come down, our dollar reserves have gone up, inflation rates have come down,” Ruto said.
He said these changes demonstrated that the country was moving in the right direction, with ongoing development projects expected to deliver more benefits to Kenyans.
Among the flagship programmes he highlighted was the Affordable Housing programme, which he said was not only providing Kenyans with dignified homes but also creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people.
Ruto said the Naivasha retreat provided an opportunity for leaders within the broad-based government to assess the progress made since assuming office and agree on how to complete the remaining commitments.
He said the assessment was particularly important as the country heads towards the next General Election, when the administration will have to account for its record in office.
“We are going to an election, and when we are going to an election we have come here so that we can go to the people of Kenya and tell them: you gave us a mandate, what have we done with that mandate?” he said.
