President William Ruto has marked four years since taking office with a defence of his administration’s record, saying Kenya has made significant economic and development gains despite the challenges his government inherited.

Ruto, who was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth President on September 13, 2022, spoke in Kisumu on Sunday as he began a five-day political and development tour of the Nyanza region.

“Today, September 13, is also a very important day for me. A day like today, at a time like this, is when I was sworn in four years ago as the President of Kenya,” Ruto said.

The President said his administration had delivered on several commitments made to Kenyans when he assumed office.

“Four years ago, when I got the opportunity to be sworn in, hold the Bible and become the leader of our nation of Kenya, there were commitments we agreed upon with the citizens of Kenya,” he said.

“Today, I can say that regarding the things we promised the citizens four years ago, God has blessed us to fulfil many of them.”

Ruto cited the economy as one of the areas where his administration had made progress, pointing to lower inflation, a more stable exchange rate and improved foreign exchange reserves.

“Four years ago, we had an economy that was burdened by huge debts and a difficult situation. Inflation was high, exchange rates were high and our foreign exchange reserves were low,” he said.

“Today, I can confidently say our economy is stable.”

He also credited members of his administration, including Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, for helping steer the government’s economic agenda.

On infrastructure, Ruto said the government had revived stalled road projects after settling part of the debt owed to contractors.

He said about 6,000 kilometres of road works were underway across the country, with the government having paid close to Sh250 billion owed to road contractors.

“We have 6,000 kilometres of road works ongoing in every part of the Republic of Kenya,” he said, adding that he would launch some road projects in Nyanza during the tour.

The President also pointed to interventions in agriculture, saying subsidized fertilizer had helped lower production costs for farmers.

He recalled a period when maize flour was retailing at about Sh230 and fertilizer at around Sh7,000, saying the government had since brought fertilizer prices down to Sh2,500.

Ruto’s Nyanza tour is expected to combine development activities with political engagements as he seeks to showcase his administration’s record four years into his presidency.

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