President William Ruto’s State of the Nation address is facing scrutiny after a detailed fact-check exposed major inconsistencies between his claims and official government data.

Several statistics the President highlighted on housing, agriculture, education, and economic performance contradict figures published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and other state agencies.

The President has been giving different numbers at different times regarding job creation in the affordable housing programme.

The discrepancies span more than a year and have raised questions about data reliability within the flagship programme.

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Housing Jobs: Shifting, Unverifiable Figures

The President’s claims regarding job creation under the affordable housing program have shifted significantly over time.

In October 2024, he reported that 160,000 jobs had been created. A month later, during the 2024 State of the Nation address, the estimate rose to 164,000.

By August 2025, the figure jumped to 320,000, before soaring to 428,000 in the latest address.

The sudden increase of 108,000 jobs in just a few months has raised eyebrows, especially since the government had announced 200,000 housing units under construction in August, with the number rising slightly to 230,000 this week.

With no transparent, independently verifiable data on the programme’s labour outputs, the credibility of the figures remains in question.

Sugar Imports: KNBS Data Tells a Different Story

The President claimed sugar imports had dropped by 70 percent. But the 2025 KNBS Economic Survey shows a smaller decline.

Kenya imported 608,000 metric tonnes of sugar in 2023 and 339,300 metric tonnes in 2024, a reduction of 44 percent, not 70 percent.

Maize Production: Presidential Claim vs. Official Data

Ruto told the nation that maize production had hit 67 million bags in 2024. KNBS data contradicts this, placing output at 44.7

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TVET Enrolment: Figures Still Unclear

The President reported that TVET student enrolment rose from 341,000 in 2022 to 718,000 in 2025.

Official KNBS figures show 448,886 students enrolled in 2022 and 709,885 in 2024. Without confirmatory data for the 718,000 figure, the claim remains inconsistent with verified statistics.

Roads, Milk Production, and Foreign Investment

On road infrastructure, Ruto stated that 22,000km of paved roads exist across the country.
KNBS places the figure at 24,868km, while the Kenya Roads Board reports over 25,000km, meaning the President understated the number.

Milk production was one of the few correct claims, with the President citing 5.3 billion litres, matching KNBS’ report of 5.33 billion litres.

But his claim that foreign direct investment (FDI) tripled, from KSh60 billion in 2021 to KSh195 billion contradicts official statistics showing:

Ksh268.4 billion in 2021

Ksh428.8 billion in 2024

This reflects a growth of 1.6 times, not the tripling stated in the address.

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Workers Offload Sugarcane At A Factory In Kenya. PHOTO/ Courtesy