Huge expectations as Ruto tenure begins with goodies

President William Samoei Ruto’s swearing-in yesterday has set the stage for what promises to be a robust tenure.

He did not waste any time in reaffirming the campaign pledges by his Kenya Kwanza Alliance, thus heightening the people’s expectations.

Of course, this is a beginning for Dr Ruto and also a continuation, as he has been a key player in the Jubilee administration as the Deputy President for the past 10 years.

From his ringside position, he definitely saw some things that went wrong, and which, now being at the helm, he will want to quickly fix.

And, naturally, he will be taking up all the successes from his partnership with outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta to enhance and deepen their impact.

Notably, the theme of Dr Ruto’s inauguration speech was “A Kenya for Everyone”.

This is very important, coming after a hard-fought election, and the Head of State was magnanimous enough to acknowledge his opponent, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party presidential candidate Raila Odinga, and running mate Martha Karua, as “worthy competitors”.

As President Ruto put it, this election has put two institutions—the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Supreme Court—to a severe test. One declared the presidential winner and the other upheld the decision.

Of course, the feeling in the rival camp, which is nearly equal to what the President commands, is not the same.

The different positions notwithstanding, this election has reaffirmed the confidence in these key institutions.

It is significant that the losers took the electoral dispute to the Supreme Court and declared that they accept the verdict, even though they don’t necessarily agree with the ruling.

Whatever the political differences between the two camps, peace prevailed countrywide during and after the elections, proving that the nation has come of age democratically.

The immediate action by the new administration should be to lower food prices and ease the high cost of living while subsidising farm inputs to boost agriculture.

In this short rains season, 1.4 million bags of fertiliser will be made available from next week, with the price almost halved to retail at Sh3,500 per 50kg bag, down from Sh6,500. That’s a huge boost.

Wide-ranging measures

There are other wide-ranging measures that will bring a smile to the face of those to directly benefit.

The coastal region will be elated at the decision to have the clearing of imports and exports and other operations revert to the Port of Mombasa.

This has been a contentious issue as the region felt that the interior dry ports were taking away what was traditionally theirs.

The President promised to immediately issue instructions, restoring thousands of jobs in Mombasa.

Also of note are administrative decisions such as the swearing-in of six judges that Dr Ruto’s predecessor had rejected.

This apparent charm offensive for the Judiciary is also evident in the commitment to boost its financial independence. He pledged an additional Sh3 billion annually to the Judiciary Fund in the next five years to ease its operations.

Other goodies include elevating diaspora affairs to the ministry level and commitment to enhancing East African Community and international diplomacy.

There is also what appears like a determination to overhaul the Jubilee administration, whose performance was hampered by the fallout between the two leaders during their second and last five-year term in office.

Also laudable is the effort to stop the arbitrary and punitive blacklisting of borrowers by the credit reference bureau.

The aim is to provide an opportunity to manage creditworthiness and avoid criminalising an instrument that should enable people to access funds to boost their income-generating ventures.

This is very crucial in the era of online app loans, which have been abused, driving borrowers into penury.

And there will be a role for the outgoing President, who, during his 10-year tenure, contributed immensely to promoting regional integration and cooperation and resolving conflicts.

President Ruto has given his predecessor a soft landing to uphold his visibility as an elder statesman and pan-Africanist, appointing him a special envoy for regional peace.

Perhaps, he should also consider canvassing for his opponent, Raila, to continue his role as the African Union special envoy for infrastructure development.

The time to create an enabling environment for the implementation of the election campaign pledges is here and now.