Kenya Kwanza Scorecard: Hustler Fund, Other Promises William Ruto Has Fulfilled A Year Later

• President William Ruto took the oath of office in September 2022, after the August 9 General Elections
• Ruto promised several economic blueprints, some of which his administration has fulfilled in one year
• The president promised low-income earners and small business owners the Hustler Fund, a credit facility that allows them single-digit interest per year

President William Ruto is about to clock a year since he was sworn into office on September 13, 2022, after the August 9 polls.

Ruto promised to revive Kenya's economy, which was since struggling from the rising cost of living exacerbated by global dynamics.

Ruto's first 100 days

The head of state pledged to reduce the cost of food like unga and fuel in his first one hundred days, a fit he did not manage.

However, despite the shortfalls related to the cost of living, Ruto's administration managed to achieve some of its promises, like the KSh 50 billion Hustler Fund.

Ruto launched the Hustler Fund targeting low-income earners and small, medium enterprises (SMEs).

Below are the pledges that the Kenya Kwanza administration has fulfilled in the past nine months.

1. Hustler Fund

The Hustler Fund, launched on November 30, 2022, is the top flagship project for the Kenya Kwanza administration.

The KSh 50 billion kitty aimed to ease Kenyans' access to credit facilities at a low-interest rate of 8% per year.

More than 20.7 million Kenyans subscribed to the Hustler Fund, which disbursed over KSh 33 billion as of July 2023.

In June 2023, Ruto launched the second leg of the kitty targeting SMEs, chamas and groups, with over 34,000 groups receiving KSh 112 million as of July 2023.

Ruto allocated KSh 25 billion in his maiden budget and an additional KSh 10 billion to the Hustler Fund.

2. Subsidised fertiliser

The Kenya Kwanza administration took a bold step in investing in the agricultural sector, supporting farmers for value addition.

Among Ruto's first Cabinet directives are a reduction in fertiliser prices from KSh 7,000 to KSh 3,500 per 50kg bag.

The government supplied farmers with subsidised fertiliser for the short rain season in September 2022.

In August 2023, Ruto introduced the second leg of subsidised fertiliser, further reducing the prices from KSh 3,500 to KSh 2,500 for the 50kg bag.

He said his administration has used over 12 billion to subsidise fertiliser as a way of reducing the cost of living.

3. Digitise 5,000 government services

The head of state promised to digitise all government services, targeting more than 5,000 services by the end of June 2023.

In July 2023, Ruto launched the Gava Mkononi mobile app hosting over 5,000 government services on the eCitizen platform.

The government also directed payment of all services to be completed via one pay bill number 222222.

4. Reduced budget deficit

The Kenya Kwanza administration managed to lower the budget deficit by KSh 300 billion in its supplementary budget for 2022/23.

Ruto emphasised his administration's plan to reduce public debt by avoiding overreliance on external debts.

“We have also reduced our fiscal deficit from nearly Ksh. 1.1 trillion to Ksh.700M, we have removed close to Ksh.500B that we would have borrowed,” Ruto said during a talk show with Inooro TV on August 6, 2023.

5. Affordable housing

Ruto's government promised to build 250,000 housing units every year to reduce the two million deficit.

The head of state has been launching housing unit construction projects across various counties.

On Wednesday, August 9, he launched the construction of 10,000 housing units in Kiambu County.

"We have advertised 50,000 houses in one week because we want to use affordable housing to grow job opportunities for the young people in our country," said Ruto.

Housing Levy collection

The government introduced a 1.5% Housing Levy in its ambitious KSh 3.6 trillion budget, seeking to support the project.

Ruto got the green light from the appellate court to implement the Finance Act 2023, which provides avenues for the collection of housing tax.

The Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Development appointed Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as the Housing Levy collection agent.

KRA issued a directive to employers to collect the 1.5% housing tax missed in July 2023 and match the same in the August payroll.