A majority of Kenyans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a new survey released by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA).
According to the survey released on Thursday, September 11, 2025, the shift is attributed to an increase in the number of Kenyans who now feel the country’s direction is neither right nor wrong, rather than to a rise in optimism.
“Despite continuing economic stress, somewhat fewer Kenyans now consider the country’s direction as ‘wrong’ as compared with the figure obtained in TIFA’s May survey (62 percent vs. 75 percent),” TIFA report stated.
TIFA also found a strong link between people’s perception of the country’s trajectory and their personal economic experiences.
Among those who believe Kenya is headed in the right direction, 43 per cent said their economic conditions have improved since 2022.
In contrast, 73 per cent of those who view the country as moving in the wrong direction reported worsening financial circumstances over the same period.
Bottom-Up Economic Transformation agenda
Furthermore, the survey revealed that, about the country’s perceived direction, the salience of political alignment is also evident, with those who support the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BBE), opinions nearly evenly divided, with 36 per cent saying the country is headed in the right direction compared to 34 per cent who feel it is not.
“Among those who oppose BBE, those holding a negative view are more than twelve times the proportion of those with the opposing (positive) opinion (75 percent vs. 6 percent ),” the report showed.
“Further, this largely negative view is also held by those who have no (or declined to express any) opinion about the BBG, more than four times as many holding a negative view as those with a positive one (44 percent vs. 10 percent).”
This comes a few weeks after Deputy President Kithure Kindiki called on development partners to align their support with the government’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Speaking during the 13th Development Partnership Forum at his official residence in Karen, on August 28, 2025. Kindiki said this alignment would speed up the implementation of projects and strengthen collaboration.
“We are requesting our development partners to align existing and future programmes with priorities of the Kenyan government, especially the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda spearheaded by this administration and the Kenyan Vision 2030,” he said.
