The Rise and Impacts of Kenya’s Hustler Movement

Zhang Weijie

On December 12, 2023, Kenya celebrated its 60th anniversary of independence. Since independence, Kenyas political operations have long been characterized by tribal politics, and during the 2022 elections, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate William?Samoei?Ruto advocated a Hustler Movement with a platform focused on serving the interests of the underprivileged. The Movement, with its policy orientation of responding to the concerns of the hustler (refer to those forced to squeeze out a meagre living on the margins of society comparing to people from Kenyas big-name families), seeks to move electoral politics away from the previous competition at the tribal and regional levels, and to construct an issue-oriented mode of political operation, which has given a new meaning to the development of Kenyan politics. Ruto became president in September 2022 after the Hustler Movement gained broad social support. Over the past years, the Ruto government has transformed the Hustler Movements policy ideas into a program of governance, reshaping Kenyas political development agenda in practical terms. The influence of the Hustler Movement has become more and more visible, deeply reflecting the trend of Kenyas political development over the past 60 years of independence.

The Rise of the Hustler Movement

Kenya, with a population of more than 54 million, is a typical multi-tribal country with more than 40 tribes, of which 17% are Kikuyu, 14% Luhya, 11% Kalenjin, 10% Luo, 10% Kamba, and the rest are smaller tribes. Since independence, tribal struggles have been a major thread in Kenyas political evolution. Especially after the change to a multi-party system in 1991, the major political parties have all operated with more or less tribal overtones. The predominant tribal identity of political parties is a distinctive feature of Kenyan electoral politics. Politicians who run for office usually present themselves as tribal spokespersons in order to gain support from their own communities.

The Hustler Movement advocated by Ruto is different from the traditional mode of operation of Kenyan electoral politics in that it reshapes identity through social class affiliation. Ruto, who belongs to the Kalenjin ethnic group, once ran as a deputy to Uhuru Kenyatta, who is of Kikuyu origin, and won two presidential elections in 2013 and 2017. Ruto came from a poor family and was determined to keep climbing the ladder of life. He is still a self-proclaimed hustler person who believes that his personal success represents the glory of the underclass. In order to win the 2022 elections, Ruto is campaigning using Hustler Movement as the slogan, which has impacted and influenced the logic of Kenyas traditional political narrative, which is centered around competition of tribal and regional interests.

The rise of the Hustler Movement reflects the complex reality of economic and social development in Kenya. Over the past 60 years of independence, Kenyas overall development has been relatively stable, and its overall economic strength is among the highest in Africa, but the countrys per capita GDP is only about $2,000 U.S. dollars, and the gap between rich and poor in society is large. A study published by Oxfam International in 2022 showed that the number of Kenyans with personal wealth exceeding $5 million amounted to 1,755, with a total wealth of about $37.1 billion. Of these, the top two have assets totaling about $790 million and $750 million, respectively, which together exceed the total assets of more than 16.5 million ordinary Kenyans. In contrast, the majority of Kenyans have yet to see an improvement in their living conditions. An Afrobarometer survey of 2,400 Kenyans at the end of 2021 found that 85% of respondents felt that they had not benefited from the economic development, a rise of 30% compared to two years ago. It was with the aim of winning the majority of votes that Ruto came up with the Hustler Movement, which advocates for the interests of those at the bottom of the social ladder.

In the context of the Hustler Movement, hustler does not refer to all ordinary people. It has a specific connotation of those who have not been able to benefit from the previous development model, especially the youth. According to the Kenya Demographic Statistics 2019, 75% of the population is under 35 years of age. Typically, a youthful demographic implies an abundant labor force and a huge potential consumer market, which is seen as a dividend for the countrys development. However, unemployment in Kenya is relatively high, especially among the youth. Employment data for 2022 published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows an average unemployment rate of 5.8% and 19.5%, respectively, based on two different criteria: strict and broad. A British Council survey on the future development of Kenyan youth found that most of the young people do not attribute unemployment to themselves, but rather to the structure of the economy, the policy system and other factors: the countrys difficulty in providing enough jobs, the labor markets unfairness and employment discrimination against youth. The concept of hustler in the Hustler Movement therefore has a narrative dimension and needs to be understood in the context of equity in the provision of development opportunities.

Policy Ideas of the Hustler Movement

The Hustler Movement became an election slogan aimed at winning the support of the general electorate. However, the Hustler Movements policy ideas are not confined to the electoral arena, but use the elections to reshape the national development agenda at the political, social, and economic levels.

Firstly, it seeks to reshape party politics by building inter-communal political parties. In the past, political parties were based on tribal affiliation, and party games focused on competing for tribal interests rather than competing on campaign ideas. Since the distribution of tribes has obvious territorial characteristics, party politics is based on tribal politics, which has resulted in the polarization of nationals at both the tribal and territorial levels, and is not conducive to social cohesion and the overall development of the country. Rutos UDA, formerly known as the Development and Reform Party, changed its name to the current one in December 2020, declaring that it would build a nationwide political party. The UDA has taken the wheelbarrow, the symbol of the Hustler Movement, as its logo, and has shaped the party in a way that breaks down tribal and regional boundaries, which is conducive to obtaining broad support from the countrys population.

Secondly, it seeks to reconstruct national identity through electoral mobilization. Kenyas many tribes have lived and prospered in their own communities for generations, lacking a common cultural awareness and emotional ties with each other. In the political environment where tribalism is nurtured, political parties often adopt tribal demarcation as a means of social mobilization for the purpose of obtaining votes, and elections become a catalyst for strengthening peoples tribal identity. The Hustler Movement, on the other hand, transcends a single tribal orientation, claiming to take into account the concerns of every hustler person and promoting the transformation of identity politics from tribal to social class. Ruto makes it clear that the Hustler Movement cuts across all ethnic communities, religions and tribal barriers. It can be seen that the Hustler Movement uses electoral mobilization as a way to downplay the influence of tribal identity and emphasize the attributes of the peoples national identity.

Thirdly, it seeks to rebuild the path of national development by constructing a “bottom-up” economic model. According to the discursive logic of the Hustler Movement, the previous model of development fostered patronage and nepotism, with the result that only a few groups benefited. Therefore, it is necessary to build a “bottom-up” economic model that benefits the hustler. The “bottom-up” economic model is different from the logic of realizing social justice through distribution, and is mainly based on the consideration of guaranteeing fair opportunities for development, supporting the informal sector with flexibility and inclusiveness, thus providing opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for many people at the bottom of the social ladder, and solving the problem of disparity between the rich and the poor through the empowerment of abilities.

Positive Impacts and Practical Dilemmas of the Hustler Movement

The emergence of the Hustler Movement is based on electoral demands, and has a tendency to evolve into a social movement through electoral mobilization, with a broad and profound narrative effect. After Ruto became president of Kenya in September 2022, the narrative effect of the Hustler Movement has played a role at the policy and practice levels. In the light of the new political developments in Kenya, the impact of the movement can be observed and reflected upon from a number of perspectives.

Firstly, it has revolutionized the meaning of electoral politics. Ruto used the Hustler Movement as his core campaign strategy, focusing on youth and other groups, and putting forward the idea of focusing on economic development. According to Kenyan scholar Engela, the Hustler Movement circumvented tribal politics and marked an innovation in Kenyas electoral paradigm, with people talking about economic issues in an unprecedented way. After the UDA came to power, it focused on expanding the layout of local hustler organizations, absorbing and merging some small and medium-sized political parties, and accelerating the construction of a strong nationwide political party. The Hustler Movement has led the political agenda, catalyzed the evolution of the party landscape, and shaped the evolution of electoral politics from tribal to issue-driven.

Secondly, it facilitates identity transformation. According to the experience of past elections, a certain tribe tends to support a candidate who has close ties with his or her tribe. The Mount Kenya region is home to the Kikuyu, the largest tribe, with more than 5 million registered voters, accounting for nearly a quarter of the countrys total electorate, making it the “ballot box” of the election. The election results showed that Rutos share of the vote in the Mount Kenya region was about 87%. Rutos identity label of Kalenjin tends to fade when trying to win the support of the people in Mount Kenya. In the 2022 election, Kenyans tribal loyalties declined, and they gradually considered their political positions in terms of social status, policy preferences, and other factors, and a kind of identity politics based on class identity began to emerge.

Thirdly, the Hustler Movement has been transformed into an exploration of governance initiatives. Its philosophy advocates a bottom-up approach to solving the countrys development dilemmas through an issue-oriented approach. At the beginning of the Ruto administration, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives was created to implement “bottom-up” economic policies, and in November 2022, the Hustler Fund was created, with a plan to spend more than $400 million annually on loans, with individual loans ranging from $4 to $400 per loan. In June 2023, the Hustler Fund launched a group loan program to provide credit to registered micro, small and medium enterprises, with individual loans ranging from $130 to $6,700 per loan. As of October 2023, the Hustler Fund had disbursed approximately $240 million in loans. The ideas of the Hustler Movement are being transformed into the main axes of the policy agenda, leading the country towards the goal of balanced development.

Despite positive developments, the Movement still faces challenges. For example, the Hustler Movement advocates the construction of a “bottom-up” economic model, however, what is the relationship between the new model and the original economic structure, as well as the established industrial layout, etc.? Is it a disruptive structural remodeling or articulated complementary? There is still no clear path so far. According to the data released by Kenyas Ministry of Finance in June 2023, the countrys current debt has reached more than 73 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 70% of the gross domestic product. Kenyas debt security risks are rising, the cost of living is high, the Hustler Movement has run into difficulties in getting financial support. From this perspective, the future direction and lasting impact of the Hustler Movement remains to be seen.

Conclusion

The Hustler Movement has had an increasingly widespread impact, and Kenyas political development has entered a new period of evolution and adjustment. However, Kenya has a long tradition of tribal politics, which is deeply embedded in the structure of economic and social development. During the 2022 elections, all major campaigning camps relied on tribal power to win public support. After Ruto became president, he still emphasized the tribal politics, and invited political figures from different tribes to join him by portfolio assignments, so as to consolidate his position in power. Thus, although the Hustler Movement has impacted the traditional mode of political operation and brought about new changes in electoral politics, it is still difficult to fundamentally change the deep-rooted tribal politics.

On November 9, 2023, President Ruto delivered his first State of the Nation Address, reviewing the major achievements of his first year in office. Ruto stated that the new government had actively pursued the implementation of “bottom-up” economic changes in an extremely difficult environment, and that increasing agricultural productivity, providing secure housing, full health insurance coverage, and expanding the accessibility of the Hustler Fund continued to be priorities on the governments agenda. There is no doubt that the emergence of the Hustler Movement and its translation into a program of governance has given a new dimension to Kenyas political development in the more than 60 years of independence. The transformation of the Hustler Movement from concept to practice and the reflections and even debates it has generated have highlighted tests that Kenya is facing as a developing country in its course of modernization.

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Zhang Weijie is Research Fellow of the Contemporary World Studies Center