By When William Ruto referred to himself as “the hustler” during the 2022 election campaign, young Kenyans were excited about the possibilities; the youth believed someone who was one of their own, or at least pretended to be, would advocate on their behalf. A chicken seller turned Deputy President understood the hustle; his remarks were filled with “bottom-up” platitudes to help the millions of unemployed and under-employed youth out of poverty.
Now, less than three years into his presidency, the same youth who danced at his rallies are now shouting him down at roadside events, tearing him apart online, and outright lamenting about betrayal. What transpired? And why does this obvious cycle of disillusionment repeat every five years?
A Presidency of Firsts… for All the Wrong Reasons
In a sense, the Ruto administration has done something that no government in recent Kenyan history has done: it made educated, unemployed youth miss Uhuru Kenyatta. At least they were receiving handouts under Uhuru; Ruto is promoting taxation and sacrifice.
Ruto even wants to tax the most minor enterprises and digital hustles— the very economy of survival for youth— and this has made him seem entirely out of touch. The Finance Bill 2024 was protested, not because of the Finance Bill itself, but because of the very situation the bottom-up approach represented; it was the government asking for more of what little citizens had and asking that those ‘hustlers’ prove how resilient they can be against the rising costs of living.