How Ruto's policies end in confusion and resistance

President William Ruto addresses residents after commissioning the Ntulele Fresh Produce Market in Narok East Constituency, on May 6, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard] President William Ruto has consistently cast himself as a messianic figure who would rescue Kenyans from the grip of poverty, bad governance, and economic despair. But nearly three years into his administration, many of his promises appear to be caught in a loop of disruption, chaos, and last-minute damage control. From the onset, Ruto launched an aggressive overhaul of existing systems, tearing down what he described as broken frameworks to build new ones from scratch. However, these efforts have often resulted in stalled implementation, public outrage, and policy confusion - only for the President to return later with corrective pronouncements designed to project him as the ultimate problem-solver. In the three years, a pattern has emerged where the government creates a disruption, face resistance and then like a comical superhero steps in with a solution. Last year, the controversial Finance Bill, 2024, would go down as one of the deadliest political flashpoints in Kenya's recent history leaving more than 60 people dead in the wake of a Gen Z-led revolt against punitive tax hikes. For weeks, public anger simmered but even with this, President Ruto appeared tone deaf to the nation's growing anger. The eruption of the protests swept across the country before exploding into a deadly assault on Parliament just moments after lawmakers passed the Bill. By the time the President finally stepped forward, dissolved his Cabinet and uttered the words: "I concede" in a televised climbdown and vowing not to sign the Bill into law, it was already too late. The damage was already done and done in the most ugly manner. Families had already started digging graves, preparing to bury loved ones killed in the chaos. It was another instance where Ruto sought to appear as the fixer but only after the country had been pushed to the brink. This strategy has played out in nearly every major sector from education to health, identification services to the Judiciary. Most recent scenario is the government move to lower university fees after public uproar over an increase in university fees introduced under Ruto's new funding model. After overseeing the collapse of the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) funding model that most university stakeholders termed as a better plan, the Kenya Kwanza regime brought in a new model. The model grouped learners into bands and allowed them access to loans and scholarships based on need. In the wake of it, fears of huge loans burden and perceptions of exclusion and discrimination marred the new model. Parents and learners protested the model. Ruto led his government officers in town halls to clarify the model. Then courts stopped it all. Months later, the government, in July 2025 revised the cost of the programmes, announcing a significant fee reduction. The reduction set for September will see university students pay between Sh11,628 and Sh150,000 depending on the programme. Medicine, previously the most expensive course costing up to Sh612,000, has been reduced to Sh450,000. However, critics say even though parents and students could be happy, the reduction by the government is cosmetic and would hurt the institutions more further plunging them into financial hole. University and Academic Staff Union (UASU) chairperson Grace Nyongesa argues the model's core problem - chronic government under funding - remains unresolved. "Universities are bleeding not because of students, but because of under funding from the government. If the government had consistently paid its allocation under the previous model, this crisis wouldn't exist," she said. Another controversy emerged in late 2023 when the government announced that acquiring a national ID would now cost Sh1,000 - and Sh2,000 for replacements - up from Sh100. The directive, gazetted by then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, sparked national fury. In a dramatic about-turn, President Ruto publicly revoked the charges during a March 2024 rally in Kibera, declaring IDs would henceforth be free. "Nimesema maneno ya ubaguzi kwa mambo ya ID tuyatupilie mbali, kitambulisho ipatianwe bila malipo yoyote (I have said that discriminatory remarks about ID matters should be done away with, the identity card should be issued free of charge)," Ruto told a cheering crowd. "I have said there is no discrimination on the issuance of IDs. Every citizen should be issued with an ID. I am announcing here in Kibra that IDs should be issued with no charges." While the move was popular, it again highlighted a recurring pattern of an administration introducing a controversial policy only for the President to later reverse it - often under public pressure. Condemned fuel subsidies During his inauguration in 2022, President Ruto condemned fuel subsidies as unsustainable and scrapped them on his first day in office. This saw the pump prices shot up, with petrol increasing by Sh20 to Sh179.30 per litre. But by August 2023, amid rising living costs, the government reintroduced a form of subsidy - now repackaged as compensation through the Petroleum Development Fund (PDF). Ruto denied it was a return to subsidies, arguing the PDF was a lawful mechanism to cushion consumers. Still, the move contradicted his earlier stance and sparked criticism over policy inconsistency. "I saw a story in one of the dailies which said we have gone back to subsidies on oil products. Let me tell the country; we will not go back to subsidies of any nature that distorts things and causes us a lot of unnecessary leakage. We are making prudent and proper use of the Petroleum Development Levy that is provided for in the law, it is meant to develop the petroleum industry and to stabilise prices whenever we have unintended hikes," Ruto said. President Ruto was also a vocal critic of the Huduma Namba project under former President Uhuru Kenyatta, terming it "a complete fraud" that cost taxpayers Sh15 billion with little to show. Yet, in 2023, Ruto announced his own digital ID project - the Maisha Card - a seemingly rebranded version of Huduma Namba, though he promised it would cost far less. "We must demonstrate in the next 90 days that it is possible for us to have a digital ID without spending Sh15 billion and without defrauding the people of Kenya," he said. Despite the name change, critics noted the similarities between the two initiatives, questioning whether the President was repackaging a project he had once condemned. Before taking office, Ruto praised the Judiciary for standing up to the Uhuru regime, promising to bolster its independence. He even appointed six judges previously rejected by his predecessor. Yet his administration has increasingly clashed with the Judiciary. Budget allocations to the justice system have stagnated, increasing marginally from Sh21 billion in 2022 to Sh27.4 billion in the 2025/26 financial year - still Sh12.6 billion short of what the Judiciary says it needs. In January 2024, Ruto launched scathing verbal attacks on judges, accusing them of corruption after a series of rulings that blocked key policies, including the controversial Housing Levy and the deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti. Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo said the remarks were an attempt to "intimidate the Judiciary" and warned that Ruto's approach undermined judicial independence. Attack on the Judiciary "Such pronouncements are meant to compel the Judiciary to provide an outcome that aligns with the Executive," she told The Standard. The President has been consistent on his attack on the Judiciary every time they make a ruling that is not favourable in the eyes of the Executive. Another radical shift came in the health sector with the transition from the National Health Insurance Fund to the new Social Health Insurance Fund, touted as more equitable and comprehensive. However, the rollout has been chaotic. In the education sector, the government is phasing out the National Education Management Information System and replacing it with the Kenya Education Management Information System (Kemis). According to the Ministry of Education, Kemis is designed to be more robust, digitised, and integrated with other government systems. However, critics say it's yet another superficial rebrand with no significant improvement - and has instead led to confusion among teachers and administrators. Education policy analysts have likened the change to "pouring old wine into new bottles," questioning the need to spend additional resources on a platform change that appears to deliver the same functions.

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