Kenyan President William Ruto sought Thursday to turn the page on a difficult year, cancelling controversial deals with India’s Adani Group and vowing to tackle corruption, police kidnappings and gender-based violence.
With the country on edge over multiple issues, there was a heavy police presence around parliament in Nairobi ahead of Ruto’s annual state of the nation address.
His speech did not shy away from the many controversies dogging his administration.
The biggest shock was his announcement that India’s Adani Group would no longer be involved in plans to expand Kenya’s electricity network and its main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International.
The Adani Group was to invest $1.85 billion in the Jomo Kenyatta airport and $736 million in state-owned utility KETRACO, despite claims of corruption in the procurement process.
The final straw may have come when the Indian group’s founder Gautam Adani was charged in the United States on Wednesday with massive bribery and fraud.
Ruto said his decision was based on “new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations”.
He also addressed the deep concern in Kenya over a spate of abductions by security forces following mass protests between June and August over an unpopular finance bill.
Rights groups accuse the security forces of a brutal crackdown, with more than 60 people killed during the protests and dozens kidnapped in the following months, many of them tortured and some killed.
Ruto said many of the detentions were legitimate actions against “criminals and subversive elements”.
But he added: “I condemn any excessive or extrajudicial action which puts the life and liberty of any person at risk, including disappearances and threats to life.”
He also addressed gender-based violence after reports that 97 women have been murdered in the last three months alone.
To loud cheers from the women in parliament, Ruto called on all society to help raise boys “into morally upright men who will never need to affirm their masculinity at the expense of women”.
‘Times are hard’
Ruto won a hard-fought election in 2022 with a pitch to help the country’s poor.
But large debts have left Kenya spending more on interest payments than health and education.
While economic growth has remained relatively strong at 5.4 percent last year, a third of Kenya’s 52 million people live in poverty.
“It is undeniable that for many Kenyans times are hard and the struggle to meet their basic daily needs is daunting,” Ruto said.
But he listed a series of successes, including taming inflation — down from 9.6 percent to 2.7 percent over two years — stabilising the currency and increasing agricultural production.
He also heralded a new health insurance scheme, which has been beset by technical difficulties since its launch last month, vowing that it would ultimately provide “accessible and affordable” healthcare across the country.
Ruto came into his speech with an urgent need to reset his presidency after mounting criticism, including from church leaders, over abductions, the cost-of-living crisis and corruption.
Recent weeks have also seen international condemnation over the forced extradition of foreign nationals kidnapped on Kenyan soil, including four Turkish refugees and the Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye.