Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Kenyans have entered 2025 amid mounting public outrage at the government and its security agencies over the abductions and disappearances of several young people.

So strong is the anger over the abductions of government critics that it has put President William Ruto under extreme pressure to deal with the contentious issue.

The immediate end of abductions and disappearances, the prosecution of their perpetrators and justice for the victims top Kenyans’ wish list for the new year after a tumultuous 2024.

As the Kenya Kwanza administration reaches its midway stage, the government faces sharp scrutiny regarding its governance track record and its performance on development. The chickens have come home to roost on campaign promises made before the 2022 election.

But it is perhaps adherence to the Constitution, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and widespread insecurity that President Ruto’s administration faces a critical test.

He has promised to abide by the oath he took when he was sworn in to never allow abductions and disappearances under his watch. Exasperated citizens are watching to see how he will keep his word.

Human rights law obligates governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to protect human rights and fundamental rights of individuals or groups.

The abductions and disappearances have generated intense political heat and legal retribution, with Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, the Law Society of Kenya and other litigants filing cases against Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja.

Opposition leaders and lawyers Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Kenya chapter of the International Commission of Jurists have joined the fray in what promises to be an epic political and legal battle against the government.

Wananchi’s second wish for 2025 is for the government to urgently implement economic blueprints that directly benefit the majority poor, the informal sector, farmers and create employment for millions of agitated youth.

Despite Ruto highlighting his administration’s achievements, most Kenyans are yet to feel their impact. Economic hardship, rampant unemployment and deteriorating health and education services, bad roads, disgruntled farmers and workers paint a gloomy outlook nationwide.

The government cannot simply camouflage this catalogue of woes with speeches or tardy statements. Doctors and university lecturers are again threatening to go on strike over their rightful dues after the government failed to fulfill its obligations in negotiated agreements.

All these issues are overshadowed by a toxic political environment tainted by last year’s Gen Z protests that thwarted the Finance Bill, 2024. There is a sense of betrayal viewed as politicians’ crafty manipulation of the litany of public grievances the protestors squarely captured.

The third wish of great concern to Kenyans revolves around constitutional guarantees, democracy and electoral justice. It is incredible that with just two-and-half years before the next general election in 2027, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has not been reconstituted.

With operations at the IEBC virtually paralysed and voters in several constituencies and wards with pending by-elections disenfranchised because of this constitutional anomaly, the government’s commitment to the integrity of free and fair elections has been thrown into doubt.

As Kenyans welcome 2025 with anxiety and desperation, they are looking to the justice system, the morality of faith-based organisations and the power of the media to hold the government to account over its commissions and omissions.

— The writer comments on national affairs; [email protected]