President William Ruto.
President William Ruto as his work cut out as his administration grapples with mounting pressure to forestall imminent crises in several sectors of the country, setting the stage for a challenging pre-election year.
With the administration marking its last full-year in office ahead of next year’s elections in August, the president is caught up in a series of battles, facing one challenge after another.
It’s an year of heightened political activities, with anticipated pre-election coalition talks with ODM to strengthen the broad-based government, hoping to secure the party’s support for his re-election.
President William Ruto.
These negotiations, depending on his concessions to the Orange party, could unsettle his other Kenya Kwanza alliance partners, even as ODM is also divided with a wing that includes former leader Raila Odinga's children, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino waging a resistance.
The United Opposition led by former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka has signaled efforts to reach out to other government critics to broaden the coalition against President Ruto’s government.
Within the ruling party, the UDA party leader faces another headache after initial party grassroots elections conducted across 42 counties were canceled following complaints.
However, the electoral and nomination disputes committee and the national executive committee (NEC) ruled that the party shall conduct repeat elections in select polling centres across the 42 counties in March.
“As a result of the foregoing, the party shall hold a Special National Governing Council (NGC) on Monday, 26th January 2026 at 8am. The NGC brings together all UDA elected and nominated leaders with the meeting chaired by party leader, President William Ruto, at State House, Nairobi,” said a communication from party SG Hassan Omar.
President William Ruto speaks during a meeting of the East African Community–Southern African Development Community co-chairs at State House in Nairobi on August 1, 2025.
The meeting will also ratify NEC’s resolution mandating the party leader to commence structured negotiations with the ODM over the 2027 pre-election pact.
Aside from the political onslaught, hostile court orders derailing his administration’s policies, a looming devastating drought, budgetary constraints on the back of growing debt burden amid falling revenues, rising threats of public sector labour strikes, resistance to sale of State firms and pressure from counties demanding prompt disbursements are other pressure points.
On Thursday, the president suffered a fresh setback when the High Court quashed the establishment of presidential advisory offices and invalidated the appointments of the 21 individuals who had been serving in these positions.
The order by Justice Bahati Mwamuye stems from a petition by Katiba Institute which had challenged the appointments, describing them as “re-emergence of kitchen Cabinet within the Executive” operating outside the Constitution and established public service frameworks.
The latest court blow is just one of several orders including one suspending the implementation of the Sh5 trillion national infrastructure fund, another blocking the Sh280 billion Kenya-US health cooperation deal and yet another freezing importation of duty-free rice.
On Thursday, the court quashed a move to dissolve Amani National Congress – Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s former party; throwing into confusion the merger with the President’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi (left) and William Ruto during the UDA-ANC-Ford Kenya rally in Nakuru on January 26, 2022.
The Head of State is already staring at a developing humanitarian crisis with over 2.1 million Kenyans in the arid and semi-arid lands (Asal) currently in urgent need of food assistance after three consecutive seasons of failed rains in the country.
With the October to December short rains once again failing, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) has warned that the situation could snowball into a crisis of gigantic proportions affecting at least four million Kenyans in coming months.
With the government already facing a restive population reeling from hard economic times amid high cost of living and runaway unemployment levels, a devastating drought is set to fan public disaffection.
The NDMA November 2025 report indicated that at least 23 counties are facing worsening food and water shortages with sources drying. Food security in Kenya is highly dependent on rainfall.
Impact is already being felt with schools in some regions being closed and families moving around in search of water and pasture, which has become increasingly scarce. Livestock, a main source of livelihood in the affected areas, have also been left dead.
Mandera County is the worst affected currently with residents in dire need of food relief and water provision.
Tightening fiscal headroom
Nine other counties including Wajir, Kajiado, Garissa, Kilifi, Kitui, Marsabit, Kwale, Isiolo and Tana River are in the alert phase as water, pasture and food continue getting depleted at an alarming rate with the earliest time rain is expected being April.
Another 13 counties are beginning to show signs of stress including Samburu, Turkana, Taita Taveta, West Pokot, Tharaka Nithi, Laikipia, Narok, Baringo, Makueni, Nyeri, Meru, Lamu, and Embu.
“A number of counties are facing drought but there is no cause for alarm as the government has put in place necessary measures to protect lives and livelihoods and this is one of such efforts,” said NDMA chief executive officer Colonel (Retired) Hared Adan during the flagging-off of relief food and water trucking in Garissa County on Wednesday.
As response to the unfolding crisis, the government has put in place various response mechanisms including distribution of relief food, cash transfer to vulnerable households, water support to schools and health centres, borehole rehabilitation and maintenance and water trucking as well as purchase of livestock feed.
Last week, the NDMA disbursed some Sh870.38 million to 132,780 vulnerable households under the Hunger Safety Net Programme across eight arid counties, as part of ongoing efforts to cushion vulnerable populations against the impacts of the prevailing drought.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has assured the country of adequate measures being put in place to curb the ongoing crisis, while appealing to donors to supplement the government’s Sh2 billion monthly budget.
President William Ruto and Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki arrive for the launch of the NYOTA Business Capital Support for young businesspeople at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi on January 19, 2026.
“We recently released some Sh3.5 billion to the State department of Special Programmes to support drought-intervention programmes across the affected areas, bringing the total amount released so far to Sh6 billion,” said Prof Kindiki during a meeting with governors and development partners on the developing situation last week.
President Ruto’s administration is also grappling with a tightening fiscal headroom with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) missing its revenue target for the first quarter of the current financial year by some Sh90 billion, portending a tough year ahead with the National Treasury warning that the sharp decline in ordinary revenue collection is already straining fiscal operations and widening the deficit.
As of September 30, 2025, the public debt stock stood at Sh 12.04 trillion, according to the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, who has cautioned “a significant portion of the government’s budget is allocated to debt servicing, leaving less money for other development expenditures.”
Treasury linked the expanding deficit to KRA’s lower-than-expected tax receipts with the weak performance pushing government finances into early pressure as the fiscal deficit in the first quarter rose to Sh280.4 billion.
KRA collected Sh657.17 billion between July and September 2025, against a target of Sh707.03 billion with ordinary revenues contracting by 2.9 percent with Treasury attributing the slump to revenue-reducing measures enacted under the Finance Act 2025, which have eroded KRA’s projected tax base.
Effects of the tightening revenue base have already started showing with various national government institutions struggling to afford basics, while counties are yet to receive some Sh49.1 billion as equitable share of revenue from the national government.
The outstanding balances – Sh13.84 billion owed to some 21 counties for December 2025 and Sh35.28 billion in January 2026 allocation – have seen the devolved units struggle to pay salaries and suppliers disrupting normal service delivery in the counties.
“We have been releasing the funds to counties and that is what we will do this week. There is no cash crunch. From 2024, release of money to counties has been more efficient than any other time since the advent of devolution,” said Mr Mbadi.
There are also capitation issues in the education sector with the government having failed to meet the full subsidies for learners in the current financial year due to budgetary constraints, amid huge balances brought forward.
Mr Mbadi said the outstanding funds were not released in the previous fiscal years and there is no budget for the same.
“What schools are demanding are not last year’s balances but what has been outstanding from the time I was in Parliament. I have released the entire money in the budget. You can only hold me accountable if I am still holding onto some money,” he said.
“We have been releasing Sh5.3 billion to constituency development fund with more than Sh30 billion released so far. Even capitation was also for the first time released in December ahead of the first term,” Mr Mbadi said.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.
Yet, the National Treasury is caught in the horns of a dilemma on whether to increase more taxes or not following the deadly rejection of the 2024/2025 Finance Bill by Gen Zs.
The government is between a rock and a hard place on whether to introduce new taxes or increase existing ones and face renewed protests or introduce stimulus packages.
Mr Mbadi said the budget public hearings are aimed at forestalling protests from the public.
There is also the raging opposition to ongoing privatisation of state firms with the proposed sale of 15 percent government-owned stake in Safaricom to Vodafone eliciting fierce debate with Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro alleging the transaction is undervalued.
However, Mr Mbadi maintains the transaction is above-board and Kenya is getting the best value out of the deal.
“We have got the best value out of this transaction and let us treat what Ndindi is saying as politics,” said the minister.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
Putting more pressure on the current government, aviation workers have issued a fresh strike notice after the collapse of court-ordered mediation talks, citing unresolved key demands including a long-overdue pay rise.
On Tuesday, the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) gave the government and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority seven days to respond to their grievances or face a nationwide shutdown of aviation operations.
“We will close the airspace, ground everything, and shut down all Kenyan airports. This is a warning. If they do not intervene and resolve our issues within seven days, we will take action,” said Kawu Secretary-General Moses Ndiema.
Such a strike would disrupt flights at all Kenyan airports, including Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, dealing a major blow to tourism, trade and regional air traffic.
President Ruto’s administration also failed to confirm some 20,000 junior secondary school teachers into permanent and pensionable terms at the end of their internship period due to budgetary constraints. They, too, have vowed to strike.
Senior school placement chaos continues with some Grade 10 learners yet to report to schools citing various reasons including high fees.
President Ruto on Thursday directed education officials and chiefs to ensure all Grade 10 students report to school by Friday with or without school fees or uniform.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is also facing a funding crisis less than two years to the next elections.
According to documents tabled before Parliament, the Erastus Ethekon-led team had requested for Sh61.74 billion for the 2027 general election to be funded over three financial years- 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28.
However, the National Treasury can only fund the budget to the tune of Sh55 billion with the gap set to affect preparation of the coming general election in terms of payment of wages to election officials and settlement of accumulated pending bills, largely legal fees, arising from the previous elections.
Mr Mbadi said the country is operating on a tight fiscal space and there is no money to fund budgets to the maximum and the agency must cut on some costs.
“From the National Treasury point, we will make resources available to the level we can but IEBC must improve on efficiency and cut on costs. We are running one of the most expensive elections in the world and that cannot continue,” said the former ODM chairperson.
