Kenyan demonstrations reveal jet-setting Ruto’s disregard for domestic anger

NAIROBI (Reuters) — In the two years since his election, Kenya’s President William Ruto has amazed global climate activists under the Eiffel Tower, brushed shoulders with global tech giants in Silicon Valley, and been honoured as a global peacekeeper at the White House.

While he made hundreds of international travels, folks back home faced severe economic hardship.

Kenyans, already battered by a cost-of-living crisis and witnessing those in power enjoy the benefits of their positions, pushed Ruto to abandon plans to impose unaffordable tax rises after days of protests.

The U-turn has revealed the chasm between Ruto’s image as a jet-setting global voice not only for Kenya but for the entire continent, and the grinding reality his country faces, burdened down by debt, corruption, and security concerns.

It has left him seriously weakened domestically, with his administration divided in its reaction and his opponents reenergized, hoping to capitalise on the tide of anger ahead of the 2027 elections, experts and politicians say.