President William Ruto is facing immense pressure over fulfillment of his lofty campaign pledges, and the country's main opposition chief is leading the charge.
Raila Odinga, the Azimio presidential candidate who narrowly lost to Ruto on August 9 is already gearing up, building momentum to "keep the government in check."
Some say that means thwarting his antagonist, he says it's just good governance and keeping one's word.
One Hundred Days, an artificial but almost universal time frame, ends on December 22 to measure initial achievements, however, the President's government is not yet in place and operational.
The President's Kenya Kwanza administration is yet to tame the cost living, form a tribunal to probe state capture and establish the Hustlers Fund for small businesses.
The President has said the regulations to manage to Hustlers Fund will likely be rolled out in January.
Over the last few days, Raila has come out openly to hold random public engagements with groups of the public, including boda boda riders, said to be Ruto's constituency. He promised a rough ride for the new president's agenda in a calm but divided country.
The boda boda economy was at the heart of Ruto's presidential campaigns, which built a solid support base among small businesses and low-income earners.
The opposition chief on Tuesday met with the street youth the watchdog group, Bunge La Mwananchi, and held roadside talks with hustlers where he tore into Ruto formidable pledges and accused him of dithering.
President Ruto largely campaigned on an ambitious platform of rolling out a massive economic revolution for small businesses, lowering the skyrocketing cost of living and ending the culture of impunity by some in government and some in law enforcement.
However, immediately, they took office, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua called for patience, saying the roll out of some of their pledges will be delayed because "we inherited a dilapidated economy."
As the President marked exactly a month in office on Thursday, Kenyans continued to grapple with the same challenges that he promised to address, if not resolve forever, in 100 days.
The President who romped to power by projecting himself as a chicken seller who worked his way up to dine with kings through sheer handwork, promised redemption for hustlers.
But this week Raila criticised Ruto for failing to move swiftly as he had promised to implement his ambitious promises, including lowering the high cost of living.
"I feel the same way Kenyans feel.The cost of living has gone up, the price of unga, fuel, fare have all gone up but incomes have remained the same. It's very painful," Raila said on Wednesday.
The opposition leader criticised Ruto's administration for continuing to blame retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's government for the soaring cost of living "yet they are doing nothing”.
The high cost of living is due to a complex of factors; the economy is unstable and the situation could be considered one of stagflation and stifling indebtedness cannot be easily cured.
For the first time since his presidential loss, Raila faulted Ruto for abandoning his predecessors' plan that, he said, would have mitigated the high cost of living “like what Uhuru and other presidents were doing."
Uhuru had fallen out with Ruto and aggressively campaigned for Raila to succeed him at State House, launching a ruthless political war on his own deputy and his allies.
However, Ruto defied all odds to occupy the House on the Hill despite ferocious political firepower from his boss and the so-called 'system' and the "deep state'.
“Uhuru protected Kenyans from the effects of the Russia and Ukraine war," he said. "But now they [the government] have said that it [support through subsidies] is unsustainable unaffordable. This week the price of fuel will go up again," Raila said.
A review of the cost of petroleum products by the Energy Regulatory Commission is expected on Friday, the second one since Ruto's victory.
The President did away with most fuel subsidies in his government's review last month, occasioning a sharp rise in the price of fuel to an all-time high.
In his Kenya Kwanza manifesto, Ruto had promised to put in place measures to swiftly lower the cost of living within 100 days, including agricultural subsidy programmes and investment in agro-processing.
Although the President moved to reduce the price of fertiliser as a key to raising food production, hence, lowering food prices, analysts say the results will take time to be felt.
The President reduced the fertiliser prices from Sh6,500 to Sh3,500 for a 50kg bag but did away with subsidies for most petroleum products. Critics say eliminating fuel subsidies will worsen the high price of living,
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, a linchpin of the Azimio coalition, has also pressured Ruto to honour his campaign promises to reduce the cost of living.
"The first campaign promise was to lowering he cost of living. From Day I, all costs associated with basic living have gone up. These are matters we feel should take prominence in these early days," Kalonzo said.
He went on, "Just as there was a rush to subsidise fertiliser on September 19, 2022, the same urgency should have first and foremost been applied to the rapidly rising cost of living."
But signalling that the country's soaring commodity prices could be here to stay for a longer than expected time, Ruto last week make a big U-turn and blamed the Russia-Ukraine war for much of the high cost of living.
“We must bring the conflict to an end. We are all bearing the effects of what that conflict portends for us — high food prices, we cannot pay for and access to fertilisers,” Ruto said.
Fertiliser and its components largely come from Russia and Ukraine.
During his campaigns, Ruto rejected an effort by his predecessor to link the country's high cost if living to the same war, saying the Jubilee government had slept on the job.
“The challenge of the cost of living is increased agricultural productivity, blaming it on the war in Ukraine is a lost cause,” Ruto had said on the campaign trail.
The President is also under pressure from teachers to employ 116,000 tutors for both primary and secondary schools countrywide, despite the country's struggling economy.
In what was seen as a part of the plan to appease the teaching fraternity, Ruto has promised to recruit 30,000 teachers by January but warned that not all will be absorbed on permanent and pensionable terms.
This means the Teachers Service Commission is likely to continue its internship programme to employ some teachers on contracts terms to bridge the gap.
“I have discussed with the Teachers Service Commission and starting in January, at least 30,000 will be employed. As I promised during my campaign, the government will employ more teachers in the country,” Ruto said on Wednesday.
The TSC had previously acknowledged a severe teacher deficiency in both primary and secondary schools, a shortage of 114,581 teachers.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei said Kenyans must be patient with the economic pain before the impact of the Kenya Kwanza administration starts to be felt.
It may take more than three months, she said.
Shollei was elected Uasin Gishu Woman Representative under Kenya Kwanza's UDA Party
"We will have to tighten our belts, it's going to be a difficult time for the next 100 days to 12 months but Kenyans will see the fruits of some decisions in a year," She said.
She went on, "We must preach to Kenyans to be patient, the pain is not going to go away immediately."
There have been concerns that lack of Ruto's Cabinet could be hampering the roll out of policies that could to fight the high cost of living.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech cited the slowed Cabinet transition as a reason Kenyans might think Kenya Kwanza is not doing enough.
"It is very difficult for the President that you have the previous Cabinet and the new government's Cabinet [not yet vetted and at work]. People see the same faces and that alone makes it seem like not much has been done," he said.
(Edited by V. Graham)