By Brian Okoth
Today, February 27, 2025, marks two years, five months, and 15 days since William Ruto became the fifth president of Kenya.
Sworn into office on September 13, 2022, Ruto is yet to reach the halfway mark of his five-year term, but his administration has already experienced significant events.
The latest development, which has once again turned the spotlight on Kenya, is the country's involvement in the delicate conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Kenya recently hosted RSF, which the Sudanese army describes as a "militia group."
RSF signs controversial charter in Kenya
RSF has since signed a charter in Kenya's capital Nairobi, paving the way for the establishment of a parallel government in Sudan.
Not long before that, Kenya found itself out of favour in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Congolese government asserted that Nairobi was friendly toward M23 armed group.
M23 is fighting Congolese troops in eastern DRC.
DRC's strained relations with Kenya come after M23 and other allied groups met and formed an alliance in Nairobi in December 2023.
Diplomatic friction
In yet another diplomatic friction, Uganda's opposition recently faulted Kenya after veteran opposition politician Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi in November 2024 and taken to Uganda, where he was charged in a military court with alleged possession of firearms.
The decision by President Ruto's administration to send police officers to Haiti — a Caribbean nation located over 12,000 kilometres from Kenya — also did not sit well with many Kenyans, who decry low police-to-population ratio.
The Haiti mission, which targets to contain gang violence, was approved by the UN Security Council in October 2023.
So far, Kenya has sent more than 600 police officers to Haiti.
Major protests
Domestically, the biggest challenge to Ruto's presidency came in June to July 2024, when Kenyans rejected that year's finance bill.
More than 50 people lost their lives in the protests. Kenya's parliament was also breached and partially burned by protesters.
President Ruto, who had previously vowed not to co-opt the opposition into government, surprised many when he appointed senior members of the opposition into his cabinet following a brief dissolution.
Political analysts, however, said Ruto was self-preserving after the youth-led protests put his rule on the edge.
'Broad-based government'
The president, however, said he was forming a "broad-based government" by appointing members of opposition leader Raila Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Odinga, whose relationship with Ruto is currently cordial, has a large political support base.
But still, some Kenyans, who have participated in opinion polls, say President Ruto's popularity waned after introducing more taxes upon assuming office, including housing levy, and increasing income tax on some salary bands, as well as raising deductions for health and pension fund.
Ruto has also introduced a new national health insurance scheme, as well as a new university education funding model. Kenyans say the new models are "confusing."
US state visit
Still on domestic affairs, President Ruto's former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, was impeached in October 2024 over what parliament termed "divisive" public utterances.
Gachagua, who was replaced by former Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, had served as deputy president for two years.
Another major headache for Ruto came in the second half of 2024, when his administration's proposed plan — to let India's Adani Group run Kenya's main airport, JKIA, for 30 years — was strongly rejected, resulting in the plan's collapse.
Internationally, 58-year-old Ruto's state visit to the United States in May 2024 was widely publicised.
Right qualities for the job
Despite criticism — and praise from some quarters — President Ruto maintains that he has the qualities needed to steer Kenya to prosperity.
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