President William Ruto yesterday made key promises to transform the country’s economy and shape his legacy, even as he outlined major achievements in his eight months in office.
Addressing the nation during the 60th Madaraka Day celebrations held in Embu town, the President admitted the concerns raised by the opposition over the high cost of living, noting that it was equally keeping him awake.
The President said that transport, as a component of household budgets, was affecting the cost of living, promising to liberate Kenyans from reliance on transport that depends on petroleum whose prices continue to rise beyond reach.
“We have to liberate Kenyans from reliance on transport that depends on petroleum. For this reason, we are rolling out an electric vehicle public transport system that will bring down the cost of transport significantly,” President Ruto announced.
He said once the steps are actualised, the boda boda industry will experience inclusive transformation through the introduction of more efficient, affordable and clean vehicles.
“With this intervention, owning and operating a boda boda will become affordable, secure and profitable,” the President said.
Acknowledging that a healthy nation is a happy nation, President Ruto noted that freedom from disease is a primary plank in his agenda to perfect self-government.
“We are committed to do so affordably, inclusively and in a manner that enables Kenyans to receive quality medical attention from the comfort of their homes. Towards this end, we are reforming the National Health Insurance Fund to meet the urgent needs of Kenyans at the bottom of the socioeconomic structure by actualising its purpose as a social medical insurance facility,” he said.
The President also committed to delivering universal health coverage that enables every Kenyan to attain dignified healthcare at a minimal cost.
He at the same time announced collaboration between the national and county governments to recruit community health promoters throughout the country to make one available for every 100 households. Each promoter, he said, will be tasked with visiting Kenyans in their homes to determine whether any conditions need to be managed through healthier lifestyle or basic medical attention.
“They will also be tasked with enabling patients with chronic conditions to manage their medication, diet and general well-being in a manner that makes hospitalisation unnecessary. The promoters will facilitate early detection of conditions for referral for comprehensive attention in the spirit of effective healthcare management,” he said.
While launching the second product of the Financial Inclusion Fund, dubbed the Hustler Fund, President Ruto said it will provide funding to groups.
“To promote inclusion, the Hustler Fund is going to deploy groups such as chamas and Saccos to overcome exclusion and barriers to participation in credit, savings, social security, health insurance and other socio-economic amenities,” the P{resident said.
“This is how we will use policy and technological innovation to mainstream our way of life. We are committed to leveraging fintech in ensuring that no one is left behind in the financial and entrepreneurial inclusivity revolution,” he added.
Ruto's grand entry at Embu stadium for Madaraka fete
The thanked Kenyans for the success of the first product of the Hustler Fund—individual loans —which he said has been revolutionary and has “turned around the country’s fintech, transforming it from a predatory ecosystem to a more responsible one”.
“As a result, Kenya’s digital economy has received a tremendous shot in the arm as demonstrated by reports that Safaricom alone has enrolled at least two million new subscribers into its financial ecosystem courtesy of the Fund,” he said.
Under the individual Hustler Fund loans, President Ruto said the total number of digital transactions now stands at 42.5 million through which 20.2 million Kenyans have accessed nearly Sh30 billion and repaid Sh19.7 billion, with seven million being repeat customers.
He said the second product of the fund will offer loans of between Sh20,000 and Sh1 million to registered groups.
The Head of State also revisited the government’s housing programme, saying his administration will construct 200,000 houses every year, which will employ more than one million youth.
“It will give cement companies and others opportunities and technicians, masons, carpenters, electricians, engineers, architects and quantity surveyors, those in transport sector; drivers will be able to participate in this project to alleviate our youth from poverty. It is our responsibility as a nation to plan and ensure the more than five million unemployed youth—800,000 who leave school every year and have no jobs—get opportunities to help us drive our economy by paying taxes and help remove our nation from debts,” said the President.
He added that the programme will help to end the problem of street families and ensure over seven million slum dwellers get proper housing.
“The debate in the country now is on how our youth will get jobs, how our manufacturing companies will go on, how people will get loans and how to enhance food security to alleviate hunger,” said the President.
On education, the President said he was committed to actualising the Kenya Kwanza Alliance’s vision to make it accessible at all levels, affordable and inclusive. He said he was committed to removing social and economic barriers to the attainment of the highest level of education by Kenyans.
“Beyond subsidising primary and secondary education in all public primary and day secondary schools, we have reimagined higher education financing to deliver equity and broader access to all Kenyans, with special attention to enabling the most vulnerable learners to realise their right to education.
“We have also employed 35,000 teachers in a historic and unprecedented drive to improve the national teacher-to-pupil ratio and enhance performance. Additionally, we are redesigning the competence-based education curriculum to make it responsive to our education needs at this point of our social, cultural and economic development,” said President Ruto.
The National Open University, he noted, will obtain its charter this month, adding that courses are being uploaded for commissioning.
“For long, tertiary education in Kenya has been a privilege of the most fortunate, while university education was the exclusive entitlement of elites. Not anymore. A month ago, I unveiled a new funding model for higher education that will make the universities and technical training fully inclusive, financially robust and capable of competing with their peers globally while contributing to our national socioeconomic transformation through innovation, research and development,” the President said.
“The model is aimed at financially supporting increasing the number of students enrolling in these institutions and ensuring that those from households at the bottom of the socioeconomic structure enjoy equal education opportunities. Under the model, therefore, they will receive a full scholarship, while others will receive appropriately graduated levels of scholarship support determined through a robust financial testing instrument,” he added.
The president also warned public officers, cautioning that as the country makes progress in transforming the economy, no resources should be lost to waste or corruption.
“Public servants must ensure that public resources must be utilised solely and exclusively for purposes that serve the interests of the people. I have made a personal commitment to use all instruments and authority at my disposal to curb waste and theft. I will not permit greed, lawlessness or impunity,” he declared.
To bolster governance, he said his administration was digitising government information and taking public services online.
“I am persuaded that technology holds the key to improving efficiency, enhancing inclusion, promoting transparency and integrity, deepening trust and strengthening public confidence in government service provision.
“On this day, I invite all Kenyans to embrace the new era of eGovernance, which empowers people everywhere, including the majority at the bottom of the socioeconomic structure, to access government services at their convenience, through their mobile devices,” the President said.
Since the advent of e-Citizen, he said, the government gradually increased the number of services available on the platform to 391. The rate of onboarding services is now shifting to a new radical trajectory, he said, noting that today, at least 3,570 services have been added and 5,000 services will be online by the end of this month.
The President pointed out that his administration has also endeavoured to empower more Kenyans to enter the taxable income bracket through efforts to create millions of new jobs.
“In the course of consultations with Kenyans at the grassroots throughout the country, we identified a number of barriers to effective realisation of their economic agenda. The first was the bureaucracy in regulation and compliance, including tax administration. Second, the extreme informality of most enterprises, which effectively relegated them to the margins of empowerment, facilitation or even recognition as lawful undertakings. Third, was the misconception around expanding the national tax base: is it about people paying more or more people paying?”
He pointed out that many Kenyans, about 10 million, had either been blacklisted by the Credit Reference Bureaus over inability to pay loans advanced by financial technology platforms, or were struggling to pay. Other lenders required hefty securities and valuable assets as collateral, yet these struggling entrepreneurs required financing to acquire such assets in the first place, he said.
To enhance the country’s national productivity, the President said his administration is prioritising the consolidation, processing and value addition of agricultural products. This is being achieved through the establishment of aggregation and industrial parks in all the 47 counties.
Additionally, the government has stepped up the establishment of five export zones in the coming financial year in Sagana, Thika, Njoro, Eldoret and Busia to complement the one in Athi River. Our special economic zones in Dongo Kundu, Naivasha and Isiolo will act as further catalysts in attracting domestic and international investments, said President Ruto.
He noted that his government remains firmly committed to continental free trade, and the effective implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
“Just this week, we concluded the working retreat for trade ministers of the continental Free Trade Area with the private sector. I am glad to welcome to this gathering the delegation that has been holding Africa private sector discussions in Nairobi led by my brother the President of Comoros, His Excellency Azali Assoumani, and one of the foremost champions of Africa Continental Free Trade Area.”
