Planning Principal Secretary Saitoti Torome has reiterated the government's commitment to creating sustainable employment for young people and focusing on economic recovery.
He said the Fourth Medium Term Plan, which will be drafted after the ongoing countrywide public consultations are completed, will focus on achieving a sustainable economic growth trajectory of 9.2 per cent.
The plan will also prioritise the manufacturing sector in a bid to increase its contribution to Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) from 7.6 per cent in 2020 to 15 per cent in 2027, and expand, upgrade and equip health infrastructure at all levels besides providing adequate health human resources.
During a recent stakeholders’ engagement forum in Isiolo, Mr Torome said the document will build on gains made during the current Third Term Plan and ensure completion of pending projects that were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also attending the forum was Isiolo Assistant County Commissioner Samuel Gichohi and Ministry of Lands Director of Planning Cyrus Mbogo, among other government officials.
Isiolo residents had an opportunity to identify development programmes and projects for incorporation into the document, whose draft will be ready by June.
It will thereafter be subjected to a validation process and the final document will be distributed to counties to help in the creation of their integrated development plans (CIDPs).
Mr Torome highlighted increased power generation capacity by 31.7 per cent — from 2,265MW in 2017 to 2,984MW in June 2021 — increased customer connection to power by 21.5 per cent to 8.2 million, up from 6.7 million in 2017, and the issuing of 1.7 million title deeds as among the achievements in the current term.
He said the government had, through several interventions, reduced the number of citizens without food from 3.4 million in 2017 to 2.5 million in 2020, and children under five with acute malnutrition in arid and semi-arid lands (Asal) from 12.6 per cent to 7.2 per cent within the same period.
“We are encouraging Kenyans in Asal areas to avoid overreliance on rain-fed agriculture by planting drought-tolerant crops to beat hunger,” he said.
Responding to concerns from residents that their views were not being considered, the PS assured them that they would be incorporated in the document to ensure their needs are taken care of.
He revealed that the National Treasury, in collaboration with the Council of Governors, is reviewing guidelines for preparing county policies and documents to ensure residents’ concerns are considered.
