Inflation tracks how prices of goods and services change over time.

Kenya’s official statistics agency measures it using the consumer price index, which follows the cost of everyday household items.

When Ruto took office in September 2022, inflation was 9.2%, driven by high food and fuel prices. It rose to 9.6% in October. 

The most recent data shows inflation in May 2025 was 3.8%. The claim is accurate.

Ruto claimed the US dollar was trading at up to KSh167 when he took office.

But central bank data shows the dollar averaged KSh120.42 in September, when he assumed office, and KSh119.45 a month earlier. 

The shilling later fell sharply, hitting a low of KSh161.36 on 23 January 2024. The average that month was KSh159.69. By March 2025, it had recovered to KSh129.33, and it was KSh129.24 in June, when Ruto marked 1 000 days in office.

This means the shilling is still 7.3% weaker than when he took office. While the president claims that he fixed the currency issue, the decline happened under his leadership. 

His claim is misleading – like starting a fire then taking credit for putting it out. (Note: We previously checked a similar claim.)

The central bank defines foreign exchange reserves as assets that are “readily available” to pay for imports, repay foreign debt and support the shilling. They help protect against external shocks.

As part of the East African Community bloc, Kenya aims to have at least 4.5 months of imports.

In September 2022 when Ruto took office, reserves were at $7.8-billion – enough for 4.4 months of imports. 

The latest data shows reserves at $10.95-billion or 4.8 months of import cover. 

Ruto wrongly claimed that reserves were between $5 and $6-billion and only covered two-and-a-half months when he took over. 

While his claim of $10.3-billion is backed by current data, the way it is presented is misleading because reserves fluctuate weekly. We rate his claim incorrect. 

Affordable housing

In 2022 Ruto promised to build 250 000 new houses a year, but later revised this to 200 000 annually, aiming for a-million by the end of his first term in 2027. 

As we previously found out, the number of new jobs said to be created under the housing programme has kept changing. This pattern has continued: 

• On 28 May 2025, three days before Ruto’s claim, deputy president Kithure Kindiki claimed 200 000 jobs had been created.
• On 1 June, Ruto said the number was already “over 250 000 jobs”.
• On 12 June, finance minister John Mbadi repeated that figure, saying the programme had “created over 250 000 direct and indirect jobs”.

But all these claims are incorrect. The most recent official data shows only 41 200 new jobs were added in the construction sector between 2022 and 2024. 

According to the national statistics bureau’s annual economic survey released on 6 May 2025, employment in the formal construction sector rose slightly from 231 700 in 2022 to 233,300 people in 2024, a net gain of 1 600 jobs. However, the data also shows 2 700 construction jobs were lost between 2023 and 2024. 

In the informal sector, employment grew from 419 700 in 2022 to 459 300 in 2024, an increase of 39 600 jobs. However, between 2023 and 2024, the number of new jobs rose by just 2 000.

And in a sign of an overall slowdown in the sector, cement production also dropped from 9.79-million tonnes in 2022 to 8.85-million tonnes in 2024.

Ruto’s claim is unsupported: just 41 200 new jobs have been added by the affordable housing programme. 

Agriculture

On 1 June 2025, Ruto claimed that fertiliser subsidies had increased food production by 50%. He announced the subsidy on his first day in office. 

The statistics bureau tracks production of major food crops like maize, beans, potatoes, sorghum and millet, which are measured in 90-kilogram bags. 

The data showed that sorghum production doubled between 2022 and 2024, while maize saw the next highest increase, at 30.3%. 

The bureau also tracks other crops such as wheat, coffee, tea and sugarcane. 

Between 2022 and 2024, wheat production fell by 15.3% and coffee by 4.6%. In contrast, sugarcane production rose by 6.4%, tea by 11.1% and rice by 36.6%. 

The president’s claim is incorrect. No major crop came close to a 50% increase, while using one figure for all crops is misleading.

Ruto claimed that milk farmers were earning KSh50 (about $0.40) per litre, up from KSh35 two years ago. But official data tells a different story.

In March 2021, the government set farm gate milk prices at between KSh33 and KSh38. According to an audit by sector regulator Kenya Dairy Board, milk prices were KSh35 in 2018, and reached KSh50 in early 2023.

A 10-year sustainability report notes that farmers have averaged KSh34 per litre over the past decade, though prices have fluctuated due to seasonal changes.

By November 2024 the average milk price was KSh50, with some counties reporting much higher rates – KSh66.70 in Kajiado and KSh75 in Kakamega.

The 2025 economic survey recorded an average price of KSh47.20 in 2022, KSh50.83 in 2023 and a provisional KSh66 in 2024.

As of June 2025, government data showed prices ranging from KSh45 to KSh90, depending on location. 

So while farm gate prices have risen under Ruto, they did not start at an average of KSh35 to KSh50, as he claimed. The actual increase was from KSh47.20 to KSh66.

We previously checked a similar claim and found it inaccurate. Tea earnings in 2022 were more than the KSh138-billion claimed by the president, a figure that likely came from the Tea Board of Kenya, the industry regulator.

But customs data showed tea exports were KSh163.15-billion in 2022, a figure also recorded in the 2024 economic survey. Data on local tea sales for that year isn’t available.

In 2024 the tea board reported total earnings of KSh215.21-billion: KSh181.69-billion from exports, KSh18-billion from local sales, and KSh15.52-billion from stock.

Customs and survey data added up to around KSh189-billion, which aligns with data from the board.

So while tea earnings have increased, Ruto’s starting figure was much lower than the actual number, making the growth seem larger than it really was.

The 2025 economic survey includes sugar production data from the Kenya Sugar Board, the industry regulator.

Ruto’s sugar stats tell only half the story. He took office in 2022, when production was 796 600 tonnes. 

But in his speech, he started the clock in 2023, when output had dropped to 472 800 tonnes (even though he wrongly said 490 000 tonnes). He then highlighted a rebound to 815 500 tonnes in 2024 as a sign of progress. 

In reality, production fell sharply under his watch before recovering.

The data shows Kenya imported 320 700 tonnes of sugar in 2022. 

When local production fell in 2023, imports rose to 608,200 tonnes. As production recovered in 2024, imports dropped to a provisional 339 300 tonnes. 

From 2022 to 2024, imports rose by 5.8%, but between 2023 and 2024, they dropped by 44.2%.

Ruto focused only on the 2023-2024 drop to make the decline in imports seem bigger but he also got his maths wrong.

Ruto claimed sugarcane farmers earned an extra KSh40-billion, bringing total earnings to KSh90-billion. 

But the 2025 economic survey shows otherwise. In 2022, when Ruto took office, sugarcane sales were worth KSh39.35-billion. 

This fell to KSh29.63-billion in 2023 when local production dropped, and then rose to KSh48.43-billion in 2024. 

So, the actual figure falls far short of KSh90-billion. 

Roads

In November 2023, after Ruto’s first year in office, the roads ministry reported that 495 kilometres of roads were built in that first financial year, 2022/23. 

The three agencies for national highways, urban roads and rural roads aimed to build 942 kilometres in 2023/24 and 1 026 kilometres in 2024/25.

The most recent roads ministry report showed the target of 2023/24 was lowered to 695.67 kilometres, and 541.59 kilometres were actually built. 

For the 2024/25 financial year, which ends on 30 June, the target is 206.35 kilometres. 

So far, 1 036.59 kilometres have been built. If the current target is met, the total will reach 1 242.94 kilometres.

On 1 June Ruto claimed 1 800 kilometres had been built by his administration but other sources report different figures: 

• The statistics bureau’s flagship economic survey 2025 showed paved roads increased by 2 425 kilometres from 22 443 kilometres in 2022 to a provisional 24 868 kilometres in June 2024.
• On 12 June, his finance minister said Ruto’s “government has constructed an additional 1 574 kilometres of roads” by 30 April 2025.

We contacted the Kenya Roads Board, but it only tracks roads funded by the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, not all development projects. The board said that the three road agencies and the state department of roads provide data to the statistics bureau.

We’ve reached out to the roads department and will update this report once we get a response.

For now we rate the claim unproven. 

This report was researched by Alphonce Shiundu, Makinia Juma and Tess Wandia.