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It is the eve of a new year, 2025. For many Kenyans, it feels like 2024 lasted a whole decade. The year was so tumultuous.

It was the year that saw riots that culminated in the ransacking and burning of Parliament, the first time in Kenya’s history. Members of Parliament were caught up in the chaos and had to be evacuated from Parliament Buildings.

There was major political turmoil. The government withdrew the Finance Bill 2024, another first, forcing it to revert to the Finance Act 2023 as the legal basis for collecting taxes. Due to the protests, President William Ruto was forced to fire almost his entire Cabinet. In a short span of two years, Kenyans were taken through another vetting process for Cabinet secretaries. A new Cabinet was constituted.

The country saw the biggest rapprochement ever to take place in Kenyan politics. In quick order, the three biggest protagonists of the 2022 elections – Ruto, Raila Odinga, and Uhuru Kenyatta – came together to form a “Government of National Unity” in all but name. This government of national unity has been a major stabilising influence in the country.

Further, the country also witnessed, for the first time, an impeachment within the presidency, when Parliament voted to eject Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office. His position was taken over by Prof. Kithure Kindiki.

As the year closed, a wave of abductions of young men who were social media activists shook the country. The young men were posting morbid artificial intelligence-generated images of the President. As 2024 closed, this issue was the hottest topic in Kenya’s political space.

The economy remained in the doldrums in 2024. The most prominent economic issue was the bullet payment of the $2 billion Eurobond that had the country on tenterhooks for months. The shilling remained under heavy pressure due to the uncertainty this situation generated, depreciating to its lowest-ever level. However, the government managed to pay off the Eurobond in time, and this worked like magic to stabilise the macroeconomic fundamentals. The alternative would have been a disaster!

What can Kenyans hope for in 2025?

Most important is economic recovery. Kenyans hope to see an upturn in the economy. Businesses have been suffering and laying off people in droves. Many others have closed. The entire economy is overloaded with debt, a lot of it incapable of being settled.

While the prices of consumer goods have generally gone down, most Kenyans remain cash-strapped, unable to afford basics. If there is one thing the government must give a laser beam focus on, it is economic recovery.

Kenyans would also like to see the full transition into the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) successfully completed. CBC has been touted as the answer to the rote education in Kenya that has consigned generations to seeking nonexistent white-collar jobs, while talents that students could use to make a living and expand economic activity lie fallow. The transition has been distressing for parents, teachers and students. Kenyans hope the outstanding issues will be resolved once and for all in 2025.

Kenyans would like to see the return to the rule of law. The laws in Kenya are enough to deal with all issues the government might feel aggrieved over. The country, therefore, expects that there will be no more abductions in 2025, but arrests and arraignment of those deemed to have broken the law in any way.

A most urgent task is the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The political class continues to play ping-pong with this very critical issue, each angling for advantage, at great peril to Kenyans. In 2025, it will be two and a half years to the 2027 elections. They must be reminded of the prophetic words of Judge Johan Kriegler, that an IEBC must be in place at least two years before an election. Kenyans hope the country will stop living dangerously in 2025.

Wishing all readers of this column a happy, prosperous and peaceful 2025.

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