I have heard you, it’s time for a fresh beginning

By Moses Muli

Published: July 12,2024 10:55 AM

Over the past two years, our government has rallied the country behind the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the basis upon which we were elected in the democratic 2022 General Election.

We have achieved significant progress in increasing food production by reducing cost of farm inputs, thereby lowering the cost of food and living. We have also stabilized the economy by preventing what was an imminent debt default, stabilizing fuel prices, lowering inflation and stabilizing the foreign exchange regime, among others.

We have implemented radical changes in the education sector, including resolving uncertainty around the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), the roll-out of a new student-focused higher education funding model, with special emphasis for students from vulnerable families, and improving the student-teacher ratio by
employing 56,000 teachers for our primary and secondary schools and 2,000 tutors for our Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions (TVET).

We have also resolved the bottlenecks in the cash transfer programme for vulnerable Kenyans, including orphans, the elderly and people living with severe disabilities, by ensuring the beneficiaries receive their stipend at the same time as salaries of public servants.

The government has also rolled out the Hustler Fund, registering 22 million borrowers, with 2 million benefiting every day, while 7 million Kenyans who had been denied access to financial services by the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) are off the blacklisting roll. Our Affordable Housing Programme now has more than 100,000
housing units under construction across the country, and 160,000 young people have been employed.

To expand manufacturing, value addition and agro-processing as a key contributor to job creation, 18 County Aggregation and Industrial Parks and 6 new Special Economic Zones are under construction.

At the same time, 200 integrated fresh produce markets are at various stages of construction to support farmers and traders.

To accelerate local manufacturing, we imposed levies on importation of clinker, saving the country Sh20 billion in foreign exchange, as clinker imports dropped to zero. We have imposed levies on imported steel billets, enabling 11 steel factories that had closed in the past 6 years to come back into operation, now hired 16,000 workers and saved Sh110 billion in foreign exchange.

Our digital transformation agenda is also on course with 17,000 government services online, while 274 digital hubs, including in our TVET colleges, are up and running.

Our Universal Health Coverage (UHC) plan has already onboarded 107,000 community health promoters and the registration process for the Social Health Insurance Fund is ongoing and ready for launch on 1st October 2024.

On the measures I announced last week barring State and public officers from engaging in Harambee, I want to inform the country that the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill is now ready for publication tomorrow.

Even with the progress we have made, I am acutely aware that the people of Kenya have high expectations of me and believe that this administration can undertake the most extensive transformation in our nation’s history.

Recent events that necessitated the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, which will require a review and reorganization of our budget and fiscal management, have brought us to an inflexion point.

Upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of my Cabinet and its achievements and challenges, I have, in line with the powers given to me by Article 152(1) and 152(5)(b) of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Office of the Attorney-General
Act, decided to dismiss with immediate effect all the Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney-General from the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya except the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.

I will immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government that will assist me in accelerating and expediting the necessary, urgent and irreversible, implementation of radical programmes to deal with the burden of debt, raising domestic resources, expanding job opportunities, eliminate wastage and unnecessary duplication of a multiplicity of government agencies and slay the dragon of corruption consequently making the government lean, inexpensive, effective and efficient.

During this process, the operations of government will continue uninterrupted under the guidance of Principal Secretaries and other relevant officials.

I will be announcing additional measures in due course.

Thank you and God Bless Kenya.

President William Ruto’s full statement during his address to the nation yesterday