For the last two years and four months he has been in power, President William Ruto has already established 10 task forces on national issues with specific mandates.
President Ruto, sworn in on September 13, 2022, formed the first task force two weeks into office with the latest on January 10, 2025, on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Femicide chaired by former deputy Chief Justice Nancy Barasa to assess, review and recommend measures to respond to GBV and femicide.
Some of the task forces went on to deliver on their mandate but with proposals that have since been opposed by Kenyans as unworkable, for instance, the task force on the University Funding Model.
Others were challenged and declared illegal by the courts, there are those with pending lawsuits while others are working.
President Ruto’s love for the task forces has received mixed reactions with a majority of Kenyans on social media saying they were created to drain the limited public resources.
“They were created to gaslight the people, waste public resources and pretend to be doing something,” Mr Wamutahi posted on his X account.
“A task force serves several purposes. You give your cronies jobs and opportunities to make money, and you also cool down public temperatures by showing that you are doing something thereby buying time. At the end of the day, nothing much comes out of this,” another Kenyan, Shadi, posted on his X account.
However, Munyori Buku, head of Presidential Communications Unit dismissed the claims saying every task force has served a purpose.
“I can tell you that the government is implementing all the reports presented by the task forces as mandated,” he said, adding; “it’s because of the report on education reforms that the subjects were reduced as the government embarked on publishing new books based on the recommendations of the taskforce.”
“The recommendations on the Maraga taskforce are also being implemented,” said Mr Buku.
But even as Mr Buku pushed back, city lawyer David Ochami says that task forces in Kenya, historically, serve the political expediency of the executive “and not the utilitarian needs of the governed.”
Mr Ochami notes that in many instances, the outcomes of these task forces are premeditated to coincide with the motives and interests of the appointing authority as they rarely disappoint or upset the appointing authority.
“The executive uses task forces to delay and procrastinate over an issue that has an obvious and known answer or even secure financial opportunities to cronies,” said Mr Ochami noting that they are a waste of time and money.
Mr Ochami noted that task forces are not required as they duplicate the functions of institutions like police.
“There's no purpose in creating a taskforce to probe GBV or femicide for example when the Directorate of Criminal Investigations can do it,” said Mr Ochami.
He added; “if the DCl is not working, compel it to work because taskforce reports and investigations are manipulated by the executive and their findings ignored or never implemented.”
The feelings of Kenyans unhappy with the many task forces could be merited.
Former Mbeere MP Rev Mutava Musyimi, appointed on May 5, 2023 to lead a 15-member presidential taskforce on the review of the legal and regulatory framework governing religious organisations in Kenya, admitted that its report has not been acted on almost a year later.
“We submitted our report to the president with specific recommendations on July 30, 2024 but nothing has happened to it so far,” Rev Musyimi told Nation.
But Mr Buku noted that the government is implementing the report despite noting that it was disowned by members of Rev Mutava’s team.
Rev Musyimi’s team was to identify legal, institutional, and governance challenges and gaps that have allowed or may allow for religious extremist organisations, sects, cults, and other similar outfits in Kenya to engage in practices detrimental to individual health and safety, the public interest or national values.
It was also tasked to formulate proposals on the legal, institutional, and governance changes required to prevent religious extremist organisations in Kenya from committing or fostering actions that are detrimental to individual health and safety, the public interest or to national values.
On September 30, 2022, President Ruto established a 42-member working party on education reforms led by Prof Raphael Munavu to look into basic education that included a summative evaluation of the Competence Based Curriculum, tertiary and university education issues. The taskforce presented its report to the president in August 2023 but is yet to be fully implemented.
The national taskforce on improvement of the terms and conditions of service and other reforms for members of the National Police Service (NPS) and Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) was created on December 21, 2022.
The 18-member taskforce was chaired by Chief Justice (Rtd) David Maraga.
In October 2023, the Maraga team presented its report to the president recommending various measures on improvement of the terms and conditions of service and other reforms for the police and prison officers.
But to date, the recommendations of the taskforce as presented, are yet to be implemented.
The taskforce was tasked to identify legal, policy, administrative, institutional and operational constraints on effective service delivery by the police and the prison officers, review and recommend improvement of the terms and conditions of service and recommend improvement of their welfare.
An eight-member commission of inquiry into the Shakahola tragedy was appointed on May 5, 2023 with Court of Appeal Judge Jessie Lessit appointed as Chairperson.
However, the commission was declared illegal by the High Court even before it could start its work.
The commission had been tasked with inquiry into the matter of the deaths, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment of members and other persons linked to the Good News International Church in Kilifi County.
It was also to establish circumstances under which the deaths, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment occurred and inquire into the legal, institutional, administrative, security, and intelligence lapses that may have contributed to the occurrence of the Shakahola Tragedy among others.
The human resources for health taskforce domiciled at the Ministry of Health was challenged with the matter still pending in court.
The taskforce was created on July 5, 2024 to identify the legal, policy, administrative and operational constraints impeding performance of the Health sector in Kenya.
It was also tasked with identifying and recommending legal, policy, administrative, institutional and operational Human Resources for Health Reforms in Kenya as well as review performance of Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Kenya and recommend improvements. On July 5, 2024, the president created a taskforce on forensic audit of public debt.
It was however stopped before it could serve its purpose following an application by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), whose president Ms Faith Odhiambo had been appointed a member of the taskforce that was to be chaired by Ms Nancy Onyango.
The taskforce was to reconcile the proceeds of loans with the requisite appropriation for which it was intended, reconcile the loan servicing or repayments with the attendant terms of the facility based on the relevant context and the terms of the loans.
It was also to assess whether the country obtained value for money in terms of the terms of the loan, cost of the projects financed and the return on investment among others.
The National Working Committee on review of the new University Education funding model was created on September 16, 2024 and was led by Prof Japheth Ntiba. Its recommendations were quashed by the High Court for want of public participation.
On May 17, 2024 a gazette notice issued by Head of Public Service (HoPS) Mr Felix Koskey announced that Gen Charles Kahariri, the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) will chair the presidential taskforce on the development of Kenya home of human origins Museum and Science Park in the Lake Turkana basin.
The taskforce was previously chaired by Gen Ogola, CDF, before his death in a plane crash last year.
There is also the national lottery taskforce that was appointed on February 17, 2023 with Mr Gideon Thuranira as its chairperson.
Its mandate included to undertake a comprehensive review of the best practices on the establishment of national lotteries in other jurisdictions, to develop the policy and implementation plan that will guide the establishment and operationalization of the National Lottery in Kenya.
It was also tasked with facilitating the necessary consultations “with all key stakeholders in the country” on the establishment of a National Lottery as well as examine the existing administrative, institutional, policy, and legislative structures and systems in the betting and gaming industry among others.