A Bumpy First Year For Kenya's President William Ruto

President William Ruto has had a challenging year since taking office on September 12, 2022. He has had to grapple with protests by opposition - led by Raila Odinga - against rising food costs, the rise in taxes and the increase in fuel prices after the subsidy removal. Experts are saying that Ruto has lost a lot of support at home and that it is time for him to listen to the electorate.

Some of the moves Ruto has made, includes sending his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta to Ethiopia as a peace envoy in September 2022. In November 2022 he sent 900 troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to join a regional force tasked with trying to calm deadly tensions fuelled by armed groups. Although rejected by Sudan, he offered to mediate between warring sides in April 2023, while in August 2023, Ruto offered to send police officers to Haiti to help police fight escalating gang warfare.

Ruto appears to have made himself popular on the international stage as an ally to Western nations, particularly since his stance against the Russia, Ukraine war. He also recently chaired the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi.

At home it is not all doom and gloom though as the president has done well in boosting farmer assistance in the agriculture sector. He has also pushed for digitisation and improved internet access and has brought reforms in the health sector.

Some observers say that what Ruto needs to do now, is get back in touch with the Kenyans who voted for him and who trust him to improve their lives, Deutsche Welle reports.

Upon assuming office,President Ruto, vowed to end police brutality and enforced disappearances in the country as he seeks to streamline the security sector. Ruto expressed the government's commitment to lend a hand in the effort to put an end to extrajudicial executions but according to a report by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), 128 cases of extrajudicial killings were recorded between October 2022 and August 2023, writes Sharon Resian for Capital FM.

IMLU has urged Ruto to recognize and support the investigative and oversight institutions in the country in ending extra-judicial killings.