Three years after his election on a pledge to lift Kenya’s “hustler nation,” President William Ruto is confronting the fiercest popular anger directed at any Kenyan leader since independence, analysts and rights groups say.
● Mounting casualties
More than 100 people have been killed in anti-government protests since June 2024, according to rights monitors. Police gunfire during Monday’s demonstrations left 38 dead—the single bloodiest day of unrest in modern Kenyan history.
● From “chicken seller” to lightning rod
Ruto campaigned as a self-made hustler who would champion ordinary Kenyans. But surging food prices, new payroll taxes—a 1.5 % housing levy and 2.75 % health-insurance charge—and corruption scandals have eroded that narrative. “Ruto’s promises felt real; the disappointment feels worse,” said political-communication scholar Hesbon Owilla.
● Ethnic lines blurred
Protest chants of “Ruto must go” have cut across Kenya’s traditional ethnic blocs. Even the Kikuyu community, whose 2022 vote helped deliver Ruto the presidency, turned against him after the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua last year.
● Presidential missteps
Critics say Ruto’s blunt style inflames tensions. This week he urged police to “shoot protesters in the leg” rather than kill them—comments met with derision on social media. “His overexposure makes every failure feel personal,” Owilla noted.
● State response
The government blames the violence on what it calls “ethnically incited” mobs bent on vandalism. Ruto has vowed to use “whatever means necessary” to restore order, but rights groups say heavy-handed policing has only deepened public fury.
● Promises vs. reality
Ruto touts flagship programmes—affordable housing, universal healthcare, digital-jobs training—as proof he is tackling unemployment and inequality. Yet Kenyans battered by rising living costs say patience is exhausted. “The government has lost touch with how people feel,” analyst Mark Bichachi said.
With no sign of protests abating and opposition slogans of “Ruto one term” gaining traction, Kenya’s fifth president must either deliver tangible relief soon or face the prospect of becoming, in the words of one Nairobi headline, “the most hated leader in Kenyan history.”