Barely 100 days after the rags-to-riches businessman William Ruto took office on September 13, 21-year-old Winnie Wanjiru Mwaura wants nothing to do with him.
"Life has only become worse under him," the first-time voter told AFP.
Ruto came to power casting himself as a champion for the downtrodden, vowing to create jobs and tackle a cost-of-living crisis that has left many Kenyans struggling to put food on the table.
Ruto -who will mark his one hundredth day in the job on Thursday - has also failed to deliver on his campaign pledge to achieve gender parity in his cabinet, naming just seven women to his 22-member team.
"If we take care of the bottom, we take care of everybody," the 56-year-old leader once told a campaign meeting, outlining his plan for a "bottom-up" economic transformation.
Ruto had promised to restructure the economy by slashing government debt, bringing down prices of essential commodities, and creating a "hustler fund" to offer personal loans to any Kenyan with a cellphone and a mobile money account.
But his first act after assuming office was to slash food and fuel subsidies introduced by his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.
While Ruto argued that the interventions had "not borne any fruit", their removal was a request from the International Monetary Fund, a major lender to the East African economic powerhouse.
Experts called it a rash decision.
"The move to remove the fuel subsidy was not very strategic as it has led to a slower economy, rising inflation and higher interest rates," Ken Gichinga, chief economist at business analytics firm Mentoria Economics, told AFP.
Ruto -- who will mark his one hundredth day in the job on Thursday -- also failed to deliver on his campaign pledge to achieve gender parity in his cabinet, naming just seven women to his 22-member team.
The Central Bank of Kenya raised interest rates by a cumulative 1.75 percent in 2022, the most in seven years, while inflation soared to a five-year high of 9.6 percent in October.
Even Ruto's pet project, the 50-billion-shilling ($408-million) "hustler fund", has sparked controversy, with some accusing him of reneging on promises to make the credit scheme interest-free.
The fund, launched last month, will offer personal loans of up to 50,000 Kenyan shillings, with interest charged at eight percent a year -- lower than the rate of inflation.
Borrowers have already complained of difficulty in getting loans higher than 1,000 Kenyan shillings approved, despite the fund's stated objective of boosting financial access for the country's poorest citizens.
"They inflated the prices of goods, then give you a 500-shilling loan which can only buy two packets of maize flour," Michael Wafula, a 35-year-old mechanic, told AFP.
For shop attendants like Mwaura, who earns just 700 Kenyan shillings a day, the fund will do little to change her fortunes.
Earlier this month, four election commission officials who had cast doubt on the poll results that brought him to power, were suspended by the government.
"They are not behaving like they are in power; they are still fighting wars that you would expect to be fought during an election," political analyst Herman Manyora told AFP.
Despite a "disappointing" start however, Manyora, who supported Ruto's opponent Raila Odinga during the polls, said it was too early to dismiss the president and his team.
"We would give them five out of 10 because the ship is floating," he said, adding that he was cautiously hopeful.
