President William Ruto is a bright, hardworking man with his hands in many policy pots. At times, his policies contradict ether because of the changing revolutionary dynamics in world affairs that are linked to political economy. This makes it difficult for him to balance political desires with economic realities and it occasionally lands him in trouble. This commentary seeks to appraise Kenya’s Foreign Policy outlook under the Kenya Kwanza government. 

He has been in office for roughly two years and has, more than other leaders in or out of Africa attracted a lot of attention. He likes attention, especially the international one and does his best to remain in good books with the West while maintaining ‘strategic ambiguity’; he initially seemed to succeed.

He was, for instance, so well received in the West as the likely leader of the African continent that he took on talking for the collective Africa to the rest of the world. He travelled the world widely, averaging three foreign trips per month, as the domestic scene continued to deteriorate. He also appeared to be hostage to such forces as the IMF, the World Bank, and what he called ‘friends’. In June 2024, the travels virtually came to a temporary two-month halt due to Gen Z demonstrations. This damaged his ‘international reputation’.