Two years after President William Ruto came to power with lofty promises to create jobs for millions of unemployed people and prioritise the needs of low-income earners, it’s a mix of promises fulfilled and broken.
Kenya’s Kwanza government has been hit by recent nationwide youth-led protests that forced the president to dissolve his cabinet and bring in opposition politicians, and is in major political turmoil over rising living costs and the failure to deliver on several campaign promises.
But the administration maintains it is still on the path to improving living standards for the poor through a bottom-up economic model.
A document on the administration’s achievements prepared by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Performance and Implementation Management enumerates major milestones in housing projects, provision of subsidised fertiliser, Hustlers Fund and health care delivery, among other pet projects of Dr Ruto’s administration.
President William Ruto will assent to the Affordable Housing Bill at Presidential House in Nairobi in March 2024.
Photo credit: PCS
The Nation reviewed Kenya’s Kwanzaa declaration documents and found that some commitments have been fulfilled, some are ongoing, while others have been broken or stalled.
According to documents from Mr Eliud Owalo’s office, since Dr Ruto took office on September 13, 2022, the number of affordable housing units has increased by 1,061 per cent.
“The total number of affordable housing units under construction or already completed and available for sale across the country has increased from 8,872 units in 2022 to 103,000 units in 2024, an increase of 94,128 units.
“Construction of affordable housing units is currently underway in 40 counties, with Nairobi leading the way with 33,810 units. Plans are underway to expand the units to all 47 counties,” the document stated.
In a statement, Dr Ruto told Kenyans that the demand for new urban housing units is estimated at 250,000 per year, but production is only 50,000, leaving a shortfall of 200,000.
“We will increase the supply of new homes to 250,000 per year and increase the proportion of affordable housing supply from 2% to 50%. We will achieve this by building a long-term affordable housing finance system, including a National Housing Fund and a Co-operative Social Housing Scheme, which guarantees homes to be taken over from developers,” the manifesto states.
Kenya Kwanza also promised to increase the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1 million by enabling low-cost mortgages below 10,000 shillings, and strengthening the capacity of the Jua Kali industry to produce quality construction products.
“The total number of jobs created by affordable housing projects will increase from 26,616 in 2022 to 140,610 in 2024, an increase of 113,994 jobs,” the document states.

President William Ruto signed the Finance Bill 2023 into law on June 26, 2023 at the Presidential Villa in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
Additionally, the total number of refinanced mortgages is expected to increase from 2,522 in 2022 to 3,527 in 2024, an increase of 1,005.
A total of 6.15 lakh farmers have been registered for fertiliser subsidy to boost provision of low-cost agricultural inputs, the government said in a statement.
Since the start of 2022, the number of fertilizer bags distributed to farmers has increased by 7.2 million bags, from 1.4 million bags in 2022 to 8.6 million bags in 2024, according to the data.
Moreover, the cost of a bag of fertiliser has been reduced by Sh3,500 from Sh6,000 per bag in 2022 to Sh2,500 per bag in 2014, a 58 per cent cost reduction.
“Maize production will increase by 24 million bags from 61.74 million bags in 2022 to 85.7 million bags in 2023, representing a 38.9 percent increase in yield per 50kg bag.
“As a result of the increased maize production, maize imports will decrease by 6 million bags from 17.8 million bags in 2022 to 11.8 million bags in 2023, resulting in a 33.7 percent reduction in maize imports and foreign exchange savings,” the government document said.
According to the document, the subsidy programme will reduce the shelf price of wheat flour by an average of 39.5 shillings, while the price of a two-kg pack of maize flour will fall from an average of 169.9 shillings in 2022 to 130.38 shillings in 2024, a reduction of 23.3 per cent.
The average wholesale price of a bag of maize also fell from Sh4,729 to Sh3,980, a decrease of 25.8%.
The Kenya Kwanzaa manifesto pledged to transform two million poor farmers from food insecure to surplus producers through inputs and intensive agricultural extension support, with the goal of generating a minimum productivity target of Sh50,000 per acre.

President William Ruto presides over a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Villa in Nairobi
Photo credit: PCS provided
“Improve productivity in key value-added food chains (maize 8-15 bags per acre, dairy 2.5-7.5 kg per cow per day, beef carcass weight 110-150 kg),” the manifesto states.
The government also said it would distribute 556 tonnes of sunflower seeds to 34 districts and make further investments in seed multiplication and coconut cultivation.
This will result in an 8.3% increase in sunflower acreage from 60,000 acres in 2022 to 64,980 acres in 2024.
“Furthermore, the government is increasing the minimum guaranteed price for milk from Sh37 per litre in 2022 to Sh50 per litre in 2024, an increase of 35 per cent. As a result, the government says milk production will increase by 13 per cent from 4.6 billion litres in 2022 to 5.2 billion litres (new KCC) in 2024,” it added.
“In summary, these targeted interventions across key agricultural value chains have significantly increased productivity, reduced costs and improved farm incomes. The ongoing efforts by the Kenya Kwanzaa government are driving major socio-economic transformation, especially for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid,” Owalo said.
In 2022, the government started construction on 19 county-intensive industrial parks across the country. A recent surprise inspection by The Nation found that all were incomplete. Construction on some has stalled due to budget cuts.
In 2022, the government launched the Hustlers Fund to provide affordable loans to Kenyans, especially those at the bottom of Kenya’s economic pyramid.
According to government data, a total of 21.87 million people have joined and benefited from the fund since its inception, with Sh54.9 billion paid out to applicants.

President William Ruto at the launch of the Hustler Fund at Green Park in Nairobi.
Photo credit: PCS
“Furthermore, 673,340 organisations have joined and benefited from the fund which has disbursed Ksh185.8 million so far. The fund has helped SMEs and organisations save Ksh9.3 million,” the document stated.
But the government said on Monday that more than half of Financial Inclusion Fund borrowers had defaulted on repayments totalling Sh11 billion, putting the non-performing loan ratio at 21 percent, according to a statement from the state department of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
“Kenya Kwanza will commit Sh50 billion per year to ensure 100% access to affordable finance for SMEs through SACCOs, venture capital, equity funds and long-term debt for start-ups and growth-oriented SMEs,” it said in its manifesto.
In the health sector, the government aims to establish and operate a Social Health Agency (SHA) to replace the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
It also includes the establishment of acute, chronic and critical illness insurance, benefits of which will be available to all Kenyans, with beneficiaries entitled to acute, chronic and critical insurance once they have exhausted their primary health care benefits.
Government also stressed that the number of level 4 hospitals will be increased by six to 363 from 357 in 2022. The new level 4 hospitals are located in Naromoru, Ugenya, Keroka, Endebesu, Kibugwa and Rushigeti.
Also included in the list of achievements is an increase in the number of level 5 and 6 hospitals by two, from 13 in 2022 to 15 in 2024. The new level 5 and 6 hospitals are Kerugoya (level 5) and Margaret Kenyatta (level 6).
According to the government, the number of registered nurses will also increase by 28,689 to 105,100 in 2024, from 76,411 in 2022. The number of registered clinical laboratory technicians will also increase by 10,355 to 27,548 in 2024, from 17,193 in 2022.

President William Ruto put his official seal on the Universal Health Care Bill during his assent on October 19, 2023 at the Presidential Villa in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The government further highlighted that the number of Community Health Promoters (CHPs), who will receive a monthly allowance of Sh2,500, will increase by 78,000 from 29,000 in 2022 to 107,000 in 2024.
“Community health is the foundation of preventive medicine. Doctors estimate that 70 per cent of the cases seen in our hospitals are preventable. It is estimated that every shilling invested in community health saves nine shillings in curative care.”
“Kenya Kwanzaa is committed to ensuring that well-resourced community health systems are at the root of our primary health care. In this regard, the Kenya Kwanzaa national government will match the allowances paid by county governments to community health workers,” the Kenya Kwanzaa manifesto states.
In its manifesto, Kenya Kwanzaa also promised “full public financing of primary health care (preventive, promotive, outpatient and basic diagnostic services) based on regulated fees, with patients able to choose from public, faith-based and private providers.”