From Singapore to 6th largest economy, Ruto's old promises to transform Kenya

President William Ruto delivered his speech at the 62nd Jamhuri Day celebrations on Friday at Nyayo National Stadium.[PCS] President William Ruto delivered his speech at the 62nd Jamhuri Day celebrations on Friday at Nyayo National Stadium, marking Kenya's independence anniversary with themes of unity, progress, and resilience. The speech highlighted national achievements amid challenges, urging Kenyans that his government remains committed to economic transformation. However, an analysis by The Saturday Standard reveals this was very much the same old rhetoric President Ruto has been dishing out over past years, recycling promises that sound grand but repeatedly hit a dead end. In the Friday`s hour-long address, which blended solemn remembrance in honour of Raila Odinga. With what he framed as a blueprint for tomorrow, President Ruto outlined his major task: turning Kenya into a "first-world economy." From his seven recent high-profile speeches - from the State of the Nation Address on November 20 to yesterday's Jamhuri Day- Ruto paints a flowery picture of a country heading towards "economic freedom" and Singapore-level first-world status. He spoke of a Sh5 trillion blueprint anchored in mega-infrastructure projects, irrigation dams, increased energy production, and innovative financing models. The President praised the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (Beta) wins, such as subsidies for farmers, hiring 100,000 teachers, and pumping cash through the Hustler Fund, calling these the foundation for Kenya becoming like Singapore. But data from various organisations and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics tells a different story Kenyans are still suffering from high inflation, with youth unemployment at 35 per cent, and the public debt load topping 70 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. For every Sh100 collected from taxpayers, about Sh70 goes to servicing interest on loans, leaving little for schools, hospitals, and other essential services. President William Ruto inspects a guard of honour during 62 Jamuhuri Day celebrations at Nyanyo Stadium. [PCS] This heavy burden means that out of a typical monthly tax collection of Sh160 billion, a staggering Sh120 billion is immediately consumed by debt interest The Standard has examined these promises one by one, with experts pouring cold water on what they see as the President's empty talk. "The promised 50 mega dams, 10,000 MW of new energy, and a Sovereign Wealth Fund are fantasies not possible given the state of the economy. We have not had the track record to implement some of these mega projects, which are mired in corruption," says Alfred Omenya, a political commentator and good governance advocate, adding that Kenyans have let the Executive act freely. "We told them we don't want houses, but they forced us. So why can't they build the houses? We told them we don't want the new health system. Ruto forced us into it. Why can't he make it work? We told them we don't want a new education system. They forced us into it. Why can't they make it work?" Prof Omenya asks. "Basically, the government is doing what it wants, not what Kenyans want, but it can't even do what it wants well," Omenya adds. "This government got elected and hit the ground running, politicking every day, something the Opposition should be doing. A stranger in Kenya could think the President is the leader of the Opposition." When The Saturday Standard reviewed the President's last seven addresses this year, it revealed a pattern: based on the government's track record over the past three years, these new promises are likely another round of unfulfilled pledges. A spot check at the freshly launched Rironi-Mau Summit Expressway revealed that the groundbreaking equipment was cleared from the site just a day after the President left the site. On Beta, which the President often cites, he boasts of 7.2 million farmers digitised for subsidies; maize output rising from 44 million to 67 million bags; 28 million Kenyans now under the Social Health Authority (SHA)compared to eight million under the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF); 240,000 affordable homes; 480,000 jobs; and the Hustler Fund providing Sh80 billion to pull seven million credit-blacklisted Kenyans back on their feet. However, The Saturday Standard analysis of Ruto's address on December 2 showed that only 4.2 million farmers received subsidised fertiliser in 2024, according to Agriculture Ministry figures, and 40 per cent of the maize 'surplus' is rotting in stores due to poor marketing - consistent with Auditor-General reports flagging graft at the National Cereals and Produce Board. Inflation might have dipped to 4.5 per cent in November, but food prices rose 8.2 per cent year-on-year, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, eroding hope for the 60 per cent of Kenyans working in the informal sector. In healthcare, the SHA has a Sh6.1 billion debt owed to hospitals, with 70 per cent of facilities boycotting services over unpaid bills-a repeat of the collapsed NHIF. On the President's pet project, the Hustler Fund, The Standard's analysis, using fresh data, shows default rates at 55 per cent, leaving Sh44 billion in bad loans for taxpayers. A new report from August by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) notes: "...more of a political tool than a financial solution. ''There is a growing perception that the Fund is a political reward for voting, and therefore repayment is optional." The report, titled Failing the Hustlers, concludes that the Hustler Fund is structurally unsound, economically unsustainable, and politically manipulated, even calling for the government to scrap it outright. President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto during 62 Jamuhuri Day celebrations at Nyayo Stadium on Dec 12, 2025. [PCS] Launched in November 2022, the Hustler Fund has disbursed Sh65.7 billion in loans to about 26 million Kenyans, starting at just Sh500 to Sh1,000 for first-time borrowers. The default rate is now 68.3 per cent, and KHRC calculations show that for every Sh500 handed out, Sh340 "vanishes into thin air." "This is not financial empowerment. It is a loss-making scheme disguised as progress," the KHRC report says.In eulogising Raila Odinga, Ruto called for a minute of silence to honour the late Opposition leader for opening up democratic space."We shall rename the Talanta Stadium to Raila Odinga International Stadium," he announced. Prof Gitile Naituli, a political analyst, weighs in, calling out the current setup of funnelling cash straight to ministries for handouts. "Handouts have never been a recognised basis for empowering anyone, let alone the youth. They get people to come cheer them at rallies and give them a few thousands. That is not empowerment," he says, pushing for routing the money through banks, where loans come with interest that actually builds the economy. On eulogising Raila during the past two state events, The Standard's editorial on December 13 dismissed it all as "nostalgic sleight-of-hand." "Ruto invokes Odinga's mountaintop not to unite, but to co-opt a rival's legacy for his faltering agenda," said Kwamchetsi Makokha. Mid-speech, Ruto called for that minute of silence to honour the late opposition leader Raila Odinga for opening up democratic space. "We shall rename the Talanta Stadium to Raila Odinga International Stadium," he announced - and for many in the crowd, that felt like the one promise which is true, unlike the rest

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