Dear Reader,
I have been haunted by the absence of my weekly piece for the last three weeks owing to the exigencies of running the office of the government spokesman, which is the national government communications centre. The good news is that a lot of good things are happening across the country.
Last week, the whole country was in Homa Bay county, WHY a truly beautiful place to be where only 10 years ago, there were no tarmacked roads in the CBD of Homa Bay town. Today, the place is slowly rising, such that if the current phase of development is something to go by, then it will slowly emerge as a lakeside resort university city of choice. Already, the county headquarters boasts of a newly chartered Tom Mboya University that has grown from a farmers’ training college, to having more than 8,000 students; a Raila Odinga Stadium, Koginga Fish Market that is 37 per cent complete, the development of the Riwa County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP), the Homa Bay Pier, which is essentially a mini port, complete with a Sh600 million jetty under construction, and three of the proposed 11 fish landing sites around lake Victoria.
Kabunde Airstrip is being expanded, and it’s only 40 minutes from Wilson Airport, and two hours to the Mara and into Serengeti. The roads networks have made the place quite accessible from the dirt roads that existed before. The pineapple, cotton and, more so, palm oil value chains portend a great future for the residents, with one palm tree capable of generating as much as Sh100,000 to a farmer per year. Already, 27,000 of them have shown interest in this emerging industry that has proven very successful in Uganda.
Homa Bay, which is led by Hon Gladys Atieno Nyasuna Wanga, who is the county’s first woman governor, occupies 80 per cent of beach-line of Lake Victoria, in Kenya. As we took the tour of the exhibition with President William Ruto, two things that were on display caught his attention. The fact that the price of unga was Sh150, and that there were well-designed fibre boats costing only Sh1.2 million, able to ferry up to 250 tons of cargo.
This is a clear testament of the fact that the efforts of careful planning, and consistent implementation of THE BETA PLAN, are starting to yield results. As Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua aptly puts it, everyone is entitled to development, despite their political affiliation.
The fact that the Kenya Kwanza government decided from the outset to subsidise production, first registering farmers, and providing fertiliser at only Sh2,500 has enabled more production of maize, that has led to a price reduction of a 2kg packet of unga to as low as Sh114. This is a campaign pledge that has been kept.
The Kenyan shilling has gained in value by 20 bob in one week, owing to a prudent monetary policy. This has really boosted investor confidence in the country, to the extent that Kenya has been ranked as the first in Africa to attract startup capital. This trend is bound to increase in this year, owing to the fact our country is well on course to repay its Eurobond by June this year. More and more investors are thus showing interest in our country. Kenya’s problem has been debt and inefficient management.
Our country’s ratings internationally have gone up due to constant and constructive engagement by the President. As a result, over Sh2 trillion worth of commitments have been secured through bilateral and multi-lateral agreements, with the latest being Japan, whereby deals worth over Sh350 billion were secured. On May 23, President Ruto will undertake a state visit to the United States, the first of its kind in 20 years, and only the fourth from Africa under the presidency of Joe Biden. The fact that Kenya is leading a multi-national police contingency to the state of Haiti is a clear signal that, indeed, we have secured our place within the community and comity of nations.
The G2G oil deal has ensured the prudent management of fuel supply to not only Kenya, but to our neighboring countries such as Uganda, with any issue that has arisen being resolved amicably. Kenya is also fronting Raila Odinga as the sole candidate to become the Africa Union Commission Chair from East Africa, something that is already gaining traction, with President Ruto leading the campaign.
Further, the declining cost of both fuel and electricity, has led to lower inflation rates, thus cushioning Kenyans from the pains of external economic shocks compounded by the Ukrainian war, the Middle Eastern conflict and high interest rates of the dollar. Add the long-term effects of the both the post-Covid and post-election periods.
Better days lie ahead and it’s expected the years 2024-26 will experience exponential growth.
All these have come about due to the deliberate implementation of what was conceptualised and promised during the campaign period, as a result of the correct diagnosis our country’s ailments. The fact there are regular meetings of the Cabinet almost on weekly, monthly PSs meetings, and retreats, has enabled the government to function using the Whole of Government Approach .
Kenya itasimama.
Government spokesperson