‘Five Countries Defaulted, Kenya Didn’t’: Ruto Says His Tough Calls Averted National Shame

President William Ruto has strongly defended his administration’s tough economic measures, saying he was forced to make difficult but necessary decisions to stop Kenya from defaulting on its debts and plunging the country into global embarrassment.

Speaking at State House on Tuesday while receiving the Jukwaa la Usalama report, Ruto said he remains committed to leading with honesty and transparency, especially about the financial crisis his administration inherited.

“There is a job you people gave me to be the President of Kenya and that work, I want to address you about it,” Ruto told the security teams. “When someone is given work, they must do the work.”

Ruto said he valued the opportunity to meet grassroots leaders under the Jukwaa la Usalama forum, insisting that the gathering was not political but a platform for Kenyans to raise genuine security concerns.

“Ordinarily, these gatherings are for politics, but we said we wanted a gathering of Kenyans to talk about issues of security,” he said. “I thank you for coming out and talking to us without any barriers.”

The President painted a clear picture of the economic turmoil the country faced when he took office; spiraling inflation, a weakening shilling, and dangerously low foreign reserves.

“We had debts, inflation was 9.6 per cent, the dollar had gone to 167, and our foreign reserves had gone down to 5.7 billion dollars,” he said.

He recounted a discussion with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who questioned what Kenya planned to do if it reached a point where it could no longer service its debts.

“I told him Kenya will not be defeated. I came back and sat in my office, and we said we cannot be the country that is going to go to shame and default on our debts,” Ruto said.

With that realization, Ruto explained, he made several tough economic calls that sparked public criticism but were necessary to prevent a financial collapse.

“I had to make very difficult decisions, and we removed subsidies; we removed the fuel subsidy, the flour subsidy, and I was forced to stop paying some debts so that we did not falter,” he said. “I did all these, but they were difficult and very sad decisions.”

Ruto said his sense of duty guided his choices during that turbulent period.

“I take my job very seriously. You understand me, and that is why sometimes it is good to hear from the horse’s mouth,” he said.

He added that those painful decisions helped Kenya avoid joining the list of countries that defaulted on their sovereign debts last year.

“During that time, it was said that six countries would find it hard to pay their debts,” he said. “Out of those six, five defaulted, but Kenya did not.”

Ruto concluded that Kenya’s economy is now stabilizing and regaining strength because of the sacrifices made.

“Today, I can confidently tell you that our economy is on a sound footing,” he said. “If I had not made those hard decisions, we would have been put to shame.”

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