President William Ruto leading the joint broad-based parliamentary group meeting in Naivasha on Monday, Augst 10, 2026. /PCS
President William Ruto has given the Kenya Kwanza administration a strong self-assessment, saying it has performed exceptionally well in most areas of its manifesto commitments to Kenyans.
Speaking on Monday while presiding over the joint broad-based parliamentary group meeting in Naivasha, Ruto listed agriculture among the sectors where he said the administration had performed particularly well.
"We have done exceptionally well in agriculture, whether it is fertiliser subsidy, registering farmers, dealing with cartels, improving farmer prices, opening new markets," he said.
Ruto said Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui had spearheaded foreign negotiations that enabled Kenya to open new markets for its products at competitive prices.
"We can proudly speak about our track record on matters agriculture and farmers and pastoralists will be our witnesses," he said.
Since 2022, Kenya has secured and advanced key international trade agreements and market-access frameworks that have opened opportunities for the agricultural and horticultural sectors.
They include the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which provides Kenyan agricultural producers, including flower, coffee, tea, fruit and vegetable exporters, with duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union market.
Kenya has also secured a China zero-tariff "Early Harvest" trade arrangement, under which 98.2 per cent of Kenyan exports can access the Chinese market duty-free.
Ruto also enumerated what he described as gains in the education sector, including progress in addressing challenges related to the curriculum, learner funding and teacher shortages.
"We can proudly face the nation today and say we have done what was required of us," he said.
The President said the country now had more teachers and classrooms, an improved curriculum and a funding model that caters for the needs of every learner.
On health, Ruto said the number of Kenyans covered by insurance under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme had increased, making the government's UHC ambition a reality.
He said health facilities, including those in remote areas, were now receiving funds through the Social Health Authority (SHA).
Ruto also cited reforms to the retirement savings system, saying they had put the country on course towards better financial security for Kenyans in their later years.
"We did re-arrange the structure. The nation of Kenya today can proudly say we have raised our savings in the National Social Security Fund from Sh312 billion to Sh680 billion and by June next year we will have reached the target of Sh1 trillion," he said.
The President said the government had also expanded access to credit and helped about seven million people get off credit listing, giving them better economic prospects.
"We've made more people access credit, interest rates have come down, exchange rates have come down, our dollar reserves have gone up, inflation rates have come down," he said.
According to Ruto, the Kenya Kwanza administration had moved the country in the right direction, with better prospects on the horizon as development projects continued to take shape.
He cited the Affordable Housing programme, saying it was not only providing Kenyans with dignified living spaces but also creating employment opportunities for young people.
Ruto said the retreat offered the political leadership an opportunity to reflect on the gains made so far and discuss how to achieve what remains of the administration's plan under the broad-based arrangement.
"We are going to an election, and when we are going to an election we have come here so that we can go to the people of Kenya and tell them: you gave us a mandate, what have we done with that mandate?" he said.
"But that is not sufficient, we have another plan going into the future, we are requesting for your mandate so that we can continue and do it even better going into the future. We did when were not so bigger team."
Ruto said the leaders would use the administration's record to seek a fresh mandate in the 2027 General Election and continue implementing what remained of their plan.
