2025 tested our resolve but we rose to the occasion – Ruto

President William Ruto has said 2025 was a defining year for Kenya, one that tested the country’s resolve but ultimately demonstrated its capacity for unity, sacrifice, and recovery.

In his new year's address at the Eldoret State Lodge, the President said the foundations laid over the past two years had begun to yield tangible results, marking a turning point after a prolonged period of economic strain.

He noted that the decisions taken since 2023, though often difficult, were deliberate and aimed at stabilising and transforming the economy.

“The foundations we have laid, and the certainty that those foundations now allow us finally to reach for our highest ideals as a nation,” Ruto said, describing 2025 as “a year that tested our resolve and our collective purpose, a year that demanded sacrifice and called for unity.”

Ruto recalled that at a similar point last year, he had addressed the nation to outline measures undertaken in 2023 and 2024 to stabilise the economy and initiate a turnaround.

He said those interventions were not short-term fixes but part of a broader strategy to restore confidence, discipline, and predictability in economic management.

“When I addressed the nation at this time last year, I outlined the decisive measures we had taken in 2023 and 2024 not only to stabilise our economy, but also to begin turning it around,” he said.

According to the President, 2025 was projected as the year Kenyans would begin to see the dividends of reforms and shared sacrifice.

He said that assessment had proven accurate, with early gains now visible across key sectors of the economy.

“I said then that 2025 would be the year when we would start earning the dividends of the hard work we had undertaken together since 2023 and indeed, looking back, this has been the year in which our deliberate choices, sometimes difficult and often demanding, began to pay off,” Ruto said.

The Head of State emphasised that the progress achieved was the result of collective effort, resilience, and a willingness by citizens to endure short-term pain for long-term stability.

He added that Kenya had moved away from uncertainty to a position of clarity and direction.

“For the first time in a long while, Kenya is not guessing,” he said.

Ruto said the government would remain focused on consolidating the gains made, sustaining economic recovery, and advancing policies aimed at inclusive growth.

He reiterated that unity and shared purpose would remain central to achieving the country’s long-term development goals as Kenya builds on the foundations laid during the past year.