President William Ruto has ushered in 2026 with his most confident projection yet, declaring the new year a "watershed" moment where Kenya finally sheds the skin of economic uncertainty to embrace tangible prosperity.

Speaking from the Eldoret State Lodge as the clock ticked over into the new year, the Head of State insisted that the painful structural adjustments of 2024 and 2025—often criticized for their bite on the wananchi’s wallet—have successfully stabilized the ship.

“For the first time in a long while, Kenya is not guessing. We are not drifting. We are not gambling,” Ruto asserted, signaling a definitive shift from stabilization to aggressive execution.

From ‘Gambling’ to Guaranteed Harvests

The President anchored his optimism on the agricultural sector, which he described as the first major beneficiary of his administration's reforms. Citing the subsidized fertilizer program and the distribution of certified seeds, Ruto claimed the government had de-risked farming for millions of households.

“For too long, farming was a gamble rather than an investment. Farmers planted and prayed, never certain whether the harvest would even cover their initial costs,” he noted. “That story has changed.”

According to the President, the results are already visible in granaries across the country, with maize production hitting historic highs and coffee prices nearly doubling—a direct injection of liquidity into the rural economy.

The Housing Gamble Pays Off?

Ruto also mounted a spirited defense of the Affordable Housing Program, a cornerstone of his Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). While the policy has faced sharp scrutiny over the Housing Levy, the President framed it as a dual-purpose engine: providing dignity to homeowners and a lifeline to the unemployed.

He revealed that nearly one million Kenyans are now accessing employment opportunities linked to housing projects, a figure he touted as a direct rebuttal to critics of the program.

However, he acknowledged the grim reality that still faces many: “Nearly four in every ten Kenyans live below the poverty line. That is more than twenty million of our people... struggling to meet basic needs.” He pledged to cut this figure by half in the coming years.

Health and Future Wealth

On the social front, the President highlighted the transition to the Social Health Authority (SHA), announcing that over 29 million Kenyans are now registered. He framed this as a critical safety net, protecting families from the catastrophic medical bills that have historically decimated household savings.

Looking ahead, Ruto outlined a robust roadmap for 2026, including:

• Sovereign Wealth Fund: Set to operationalize in January to finance development without excessive debt.
• Infrastructure Push: Completion of the Talanta Sports Complex ahead of AFCON 2027.
• Digital Jobs: A renewed focus on ICT hubs to absorb the youth demographic.

“2026 will be a watershed year in the story of our republic,” Ruto concluded. “A turning point in our march from promise to prosperity, a year that future generations will look back on and say: that is when Kenya changed course.”