Why we should be realistic about Kenya Kwanza's first 100 days

president William Ruto displays the sword during his Swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium on September 13, 2022. [Boniface Okendo, Standard] Given the phalanx of political promises made on the electoral campaign trail, when do we start counting the first 100 days of the Kenya Kwanza alliance's residence in power? Do we begin from August 15, when the IEBC declared William Ruto as president-elect or September 5 when the Supreme Court affirmed this declaration? Strictly, though, shouldn't it be the date of the inauguration that was September 13? Or should it be 100 days from when the government - that is President Ruto's Cabinet and Principal Secretaries - are firmly in place? This is not an idle question, given the heavy burden of expectation, Kenyans have placed on our new political administration. Our "talking heads" on TV, including politicos, are already saying we are at 60 days and counting. Let's work through this. The election result was declared six days after the election. The Supreme Court judgment came 21 days after the declaration, and the inauguration happened eight days after that judgment. If we take October 8 (when this article was written) as our starting point, it is 60 days since the election, 54 days after the declaration, 33 days post-judgment and 25 days after the inauguration. Taking inauguration as the date when work began, there are 75 days left to deliver. That takes us to December 22, the Thursday before Christmas. Deliver what, you may ask? I haven't found a written down version of the KK alliance's 100-day plan, but we could begin with the commitments that Dr Ruto made when launching the coalition's campaign manifesto at the end of June. Beyond general mentions about reducing the cost of living and the hustler fund, there were commitments around an independent police budget and the swearing in of the six Court of Appeal judges, which have already happened, as well as the establishment of the Judiciary Fund, which ended up as a final act of the outgoing administration. Add lower-cost fertiliser. Then, while the diaspora's elevation to prominence in the foreign affairs portfolio was not quite at Cabinet Secretary ministry level, it is still a gain at the principal secretary departmental level. What else was there from that manifesto launch? Commitments were made to end wanton evictions and property demolitions, to end ethnic profiling in the issuance of IDs through an administrative appeals tribunal, to respect and defend freedom of workshop and lift the moratorium on the registration of religious organisations and to elevate Kenya's foreign policy profile. There were promises to complete the transfer of functions to counties, strengthen intergovernmental agencies and revisit the national-county revenue sharing formula. Add to this the promise to open up the possibility of horizontal job movement across our service commissions. Throw in a benevolent fund for fallen and terminal ill police officers. For all police, terms of services would be reviewed as an important element of policing reform, while their insurance package would be aligned with that available to the military. For all public servants, their affordable housing mortgage packages would be aligned with the highly attractive terms available to Parliament and the Judiciary. This is what we heard at the pre-election manifesto launch, some of which was covered in the president's post-election inauguration address to Kenyans. Let's throw in some more 100-day promises, from what we have read, watched and heard through the media. We will call these "the 100-day promises according to the media", even though some may be promises that are not necessarily about 100 days. There was the 50:50 gender-balanced Cabinet (which didn't happen), and commitment to the two-thirds gender rule across government. Throw in the promise to establish a women's rights agency in the presidency, which has happened, as has the publishing of clear job descriptions for the deputy president and prime Cabinet Secretary. Then add the promise that counties will now get their equitable share funds on time (as the Council of Governors has noted, the 2022/23 financial year is already off to a bad start on this). That weaponised criminal (including corruption) cases would end. That port operations would return to Mombasa. That hawking would be regularised through policy. That national revenue collection would be automated (isn't it already?). That EACC, DCI and DPP would be fully funded, and Cabinet put on performance contracts. That's just from a quick scan of our media. The point here is we have a fairly long laundry list of things to be delivered by December 22 based on promises stated, heard, and surmised but not written down to the best of my knowledge (if they are written down, please point us to a publicly accessible source). It is clear that there is progress in several areas, but it is equally clear that some things cannot be done in 100 days outside of policy, legal or regulatory change, which will need a fully-settled Parliament to get to work. Let us triangulate this into a triple question. After asking if these things can be done, are these the things that need to be done? Is this what Kenyans were looking forward to? Think about public expectations around three things that bother us every day - living costs (and standards), livelihoods for income and corruption as an inevitable addition to the cost of living and livelihoods before we get to morality. Or in everyday terms - more jobs, cheaper unga, milk and fuel and free internet. To the first question, one wonders what 100-day actions will happen across the manifesto's five pillars. We can see fertiliser for agriculture but what about healthcare or housing? Is the Hustler Fund a 100-day win that cuts across the MSME and digital superhighway pillars? And what are the quick wins targeted at the creative economy in which our youth are the predominant group? I am not holding brief for Kenya Kwanza here (and neither do I for Azimio) but a quiet question we might need to ask ourselves is if December 22 really is the Day of Judgement. And what this judgment means for the rest of the new administration's electoral term. Actually, here is an added thought. Can any government deliver in 100 days if it is only fully set up after 50? Let's explore this different perspective. Following his inauguration on September 13, President Ruto announced his Cabinet nominees a fortnight later, on September 27. Parliament, in the meantime, had pending business to settle in both Houses before it started work - the question of who between parties/coalitions in both the National Assembly and Senate was the majority and minority. This happened on October 4 and 6 across each House. Cabinet nominees were then gazetted on October 7, with the Committee on Appointments to vet them up and running from October 11. Kenyans have until October 14 to offer comments and input on these nominees. The Committee's vetting report would be ready towards the end of October (the 27th) and the plan is to have approval by the full House in the first week of November. November 3 would be day 51 since the inauguration, and that's assuming it all goes smoothly. Let's assume real work for CSs starts the following Monday, which would be November 7, or day 55. But then you also need Principal Secretaries. Some 9,149 applications were pared down to 477, then back up to 585 (apparently for "inclusion and diversity"), for 49 PS positions. The public has up to October 12 to offer comments and inputs on the names. Public Service Commission (PSC) interviews will run from that date to October 22, which suggests a final selection report on Monday, October 24. The proposed candidates will then need to be vetted by Parliament's departmental committees, so if we assume that week, then we are talking end-October, early-November for formal appointment. Effectively, therefore, it will have taken at least half of 100 days to set up the machinery of government necessary to deliver. This is not to say that the KK alliance has not been busy; one expects that this quieter part of the current honeymoon period has been well spent in fine-tuning the strategies (and, as they said, performance frameworks) into which these structures and people will now fit. Although this is not the usual way of government where the structure is the strategy, we presume here that the way of this administration is that structures will follow strategy, right? This brings us back to this idea of 100 days. Yes, it is nice and sexy for the media. Indeed, one expects that November and that part of December before our Christmas break will be full of action and activity; motion and movement. But an unpopular view might be that the real work towards the long-term fixes that the KK alliance has promised Kenyans only begins in 2023. If we take that more thoughtful perspective outside of the current excitement, then the real test of this new administration's first 100 days is not in the short-term gains it delivers, but in how it has organised for the long-term answers to Kenyans' demands and desires. Then again, I hold no brief for them!

Why we should be realistic about Kenya Kwanza's first 100 days

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