Kenya’s leader is strengthening his global profile. At home, the public fumes.

He has made dozens of trips abroad to boost his reputation on climate change while raising taxes at home. He vowed to send his country’s police to crush gang violence in Haiti, even as they are accused of brutality at home. And he recently hosted an eight-course state dinner for King Charles III, amid skyrocketing food and fuel prices.

Kenyan President William Ruto is facing fierce criticism and mounting public anger, just over a year after coming to power a heavily contested election. The growing discontent has roiled the East African nation, a close Western ally that has long been an economic powerhouse and a pillar of stability in a tumultuous region.

Mr Ruto, who grew up poor and went to school barefoot, campaigned on a platform of improving the economy for the millions of aspiring Kenyans, whom he called “hustlers.” But now even some of his most ardent supporters are saying that the president: a wealthy businessmanhas made life harder by imposing higher taxes, eliminating fuel subsidies and raising electricity prices.

“The president is a liar, a serial liar,” said Antony Ikonya Mwaniki, a former local official in Kiambu County, north of the capital Nairobi, where Ruto held his last campaign rally last year. Mr Mwaniki, who had worked closely with Mr Ruto and his allies, said he had apologized to voters he convinced to vote for Mr Ruto.

“I am a very disappointed person,” Mr Mwaniki said. “We are all suffering.”

Mr Ruto initially mocked his critics he took office when the Kenyan economy was already under pressure growing debts, high unemployment and a prolonged drought that caused crops to shrivel. He accused President Uhuru Kenyatta’s previous government – in which he was vice president – of making poor financial decisions and failing to stem corruption.

The president, whose office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, has given speeches saying the new measures were aimed at raising funds and limiting borrowing for a deeply indebted country. He said his government has taken steps to protect the public from rising costs by lowering the price of fertilizer for farmers and supporting the dairy and fishing industries.

“We have had to make difficult decisions and painful choices because we owe it to Kenyans to do the right thing,” Mr Ruto said. said in November in his first State of the Nation address. “The new direction may not be easy, but it is ethical, responsible, sensible and, above all, necessary.”

Mr Ruto’s plan to charge taxpayers 1.5 per cent of their monthly income, along with an equal contribution from employers, to build affordable housing was declared unconstitutional Tuesday by the Supreme Court. There was also a separate plan to promote universal health care suspended in court on Monday.

The president’s opponents say he has spent his first year in office focused on expanding his global standing and reinventing himself as a pan-African leader.

He was a host Africa’s first climate summit in September, and was named one of the world’s 100 most influential climate leaders from Time magazine. He gave speeches calling on the international financial system to deal more fairly with African countries. He tried to mediate between them the warring generals in Sudan and find a solution for it the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. And he invited world leaders to Kenya, including Charles, who created Kenya his first destination in Africa as king.

“Ruto is the boy with blue eyes who wants to be liked,” said Dr. Njoki Wamai, assistant professor of international relations at the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi. “He is the chief and he has taken his hustle to the international space.”

But at home, activists and human rights groups denounced the plan, saying it violated Kenya’s constitution because it would put officers in unnecessary danger. The plan was announced without wider public consultation or the express approval of government authorities responsible for national security.

Human rights activists also expressed their concerns the behavior of the Kenyan policeaccused of killing at least 107 people this year, according to Amnesty International.

The Haiti plan, largely welcomed abroad, has become a political wedge issue at home. During a heated debate in parliament in November, a lawmaker, Rozaah Akinyi Buyu, said Kenyan police sent to Haiti would be nothing but “sacrificial lambs.” Other parliamentarians argued that Kenya had an obligation to help a country whose population is part of the African diaspora.

“Haiti is not an isolated country for us,” said Yusuf Hassan Abdi, another lawmaker. “Haitians are of African descent.”

Parliament approved the mission in mid-November. But a judge temporarily blocked the deployment in October and is expected to make a final ruling by the end of January.

While Mr Ruto tries to solve foreign problems, domestic challenges are piling up.

Annual average inflation has risen to 8 percent as fuel, transportation and food prices rise. The Kenyan currency has lost about 25 percent of its value against the dollar in the past year. There is a new tax package caused anger and protests. At least 70,000 jobs have been lost in the private sector. And after a devastating drought, heavy rain and flooding are now causing major damage nationwide.

Esther Kwamboka is the kind of ‘hustler’ Mr Ruto promised to help.

She is a 39-year-old mother of four and runs a small grocery store in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. She is now working longer hours to make ends meet as prices for water, electricity, rent and her business license have all doubled. With fewer customers and a lower income, she worries about how she will pay her children’s school fees next year.

“If the president really cared about us, he would lower the cost of food and doing business,” she said. “Otherwise people will soon commit suicide.”

The increase in the cost of living is due to some of Mr Ruto’s close allies in his cabinet face accusations by corruption. A recent parliamentary report said there was corruption increased between May 2022 and August 2023 by 64 percent.

The president has also faced censure for his foreign travel. Since taking office last September, Mr Ruto has traveled to more than 20 countries, working with political leaders Africa, Asia And Europeas well as in Silicon Valley, with business leaders like the Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The travel budget for the president’s office increased by more than 40 percent between July 2022 and June 2023, according to the Office of the Controller of Budget, an independent government agency.

Mr Ruto, 56, has defended his trips, saying he secured jobs and deals for Kenya. But after public outcry, he announced cuts in travel spending and the size of government delegations.

“If you look at it from the whole budget perspective, travel is a small expense,” said Dr. Abraham Rugo, executive director of International Budget Partnership Kenya, a non-profit organization. But “at a time when you are under financial pressure, it becomes significant.”

For now, Kenyans hope that Mr Ruto will find a solution to their economic problems.

Even after 20 hours of work, David Odongo, a motorcycle taxi driver, says he cannot afford enough cornmeal for his family. His three daughters and son often ask when he is going to buy them some meat or their favorite fish. He has no money to renew the insurance on his motorcycle, putting him at risk of arrest.

“Life has become so hard and painful,” said 29-year-old Mr Odongo. “Every day the government finds a way to take more from us.”