Clearly identifiable

Uhuru Kenyatta

Deputy Prime Minister 2008 to 2013. President 2013 to 2022. Jubilee. Retired; his record in office is complete.

Held power before. Actions first; uncontradicted words and reports count less.

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Background, education and career: Uhuru Kenyatta biography

What the record shows

DICC charges over the 2007 to 2008 violence were withdrawn by the prosecutor in December 2014, citing lack of evidence and non-cooperation.
DThe March 2018 'handshake' with Raila Odinga ended the post-2017 standoff.
DThe Supreme Court nullified his August 2017 win. He won the October rerun, which the opposition boycotted.

What they said, and what they did

Said they wouldLaptops for every Class One pupil (2013).
What they did
IReplaced by a scaled-down Digital Literacy Programme using tablets.
Said they would500,000 affordable homes under the Big Four agenda (2017).
What they did
AOnly a small fraction were completed by 2022, according to media and audit reports.
Said they wouldFight corruption.
What they did
IHigh-profile arrests from 2018, including over the NYS scandal, but few convictions of senior figures (interpretation).

Where the evidence points, by dimension

Role of the state in the economy: Leans state-led (medium confidence)

Pursued debt-financed, state-led megaprojects such as the Chinese-funded Standard Gauge Railway, and signed a cap on bank interest rates in 2016 (repealed 2019). Public debt rose sharply.

Land, wealth and taxes: Mixed (low confidence)

The government reported issuing millions of title deeds (its own figures). No major redistribution.

Institutions and power-sharing: Leans executive-centred (medium confidence)

Courts ruled the BBI constitutional-change drive unconstitutional, upheld by the Supreme Court in March 2022. Refused for years to appoint judges nominated by the JSC. He did accept the 2017 Supreme Court nullification and went to a rerun.

Political style: Establishment (high confidence)

Son of the first president. Governed as the establishment, then backed Raila Odinga against his own deputy in 2022.

Civil liberties: Order-first (medium confidence)

Switched off three TV stations in January 2018 and kept them off despite a court order. Signed the 2018 cybercrimes law, parts of which courts suspended.

What they appear to have stood for

Establishment, state-driven infrastructure developmentalism financed by debt, with a willingness to override courts and media when under pressure.

Compare side by side

Contradictions in the record

ICampaigned with William Ruto in 2013 and 2017, then worked against him in 2022.
IPromised to fight corruption while debt-funded projects faced repeated audit queries (interpretation).

Sources (2)

How to read this page

Actions come first: laws, votes, decisions, court cases. Words count less, and only where the record is thin and not contradicted. A leader with real power now is judged on actions only. Tags: D documented, A attributed to a named source, I our interpretation, U not yet re-checked, S stated position, H hearsay. An allegation is not a finding. This is a research draft, not voting advice. Read the full method.

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