Ruto: President who eats, sleeps and dreams of changing how everything is done

President Ruto inspects the Lamu-Ijara-Garissa (LAPSSET) road, set to link Isiolo to Ethiopia, on Feb 7, 2025. [PCS, Standard]

President William Ruto's first three years have been marked with a sharp presidential appetite for change. His most remarkable carryover from the 2022 election campaigns is easily the refrain, "I am going to change this Kenya."

Kenyans are learning, however, that not all change is helpful. As President Ruto sleeps, dreams and eats changing things, his country is appreciating that the road to ruin is often paved with good intentions. The country has witnessed changes whose justification is difficult to grasp. The outcome has been negative, especially in big push assignments. Medics talk of iatrogenic conditions. Here, medical treatment causes new illnesses. The effort to replace the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) with the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) has itself been iatrogenic.