President William Ruto says the government targets to increase foreign remittances from four billion to 10 billion dollars by getting more Kenyans work opportunities in foreign companies. The President was addressing journalists at a roundtable meeting at statehouse Nairobi on Sunday 17 2023.
“We are looking at getting more foreign exchange to Kenya. That is why I am working around the clock to make sure we have more Kenyans working in foreign companies and we connect more Kenyans to opportunities outside the country,” the President said.
Speaking on the state of Kenya’s economy, Dr Ruto said he was working hard to ensure that there was money in people’s pockets.
“I know there is still no money in people's pockets. That's why we want to invest more in education. This year we spent Sh120 billion extra to fund education. We are putting more money in health by ensuring that every Kenyan gets health insurance. As I talk to you, 120,000 people are working on the housing programme and we are connecting Kenyans jobs abroad. We want to create ICT hubs and we have negotiated for digital jobs globally,” the President said.
He also said that Kenya has increased maize production by 40 per cent, from 42 million to 61 million bags, thanks to interventions such as subsidised fertiliser. He added that the government has spent an extra Sh120 billion on education and hired 5,600 teachers; says health and education remain priorities.
The president said the government has cut spending on travel and entertainment by 50 per cent; and admitted to travelling more than other presidents.
“Would you rather I sit in Nairobi and see Kenya burn down or go to America? Would you rather I don’t travel or go to South Korea to sort out problems in the electricity space and energy transmission? I can account for every shilling I have spent on my travel,” defended Ruto.
On the housing levy the president said that the government has put in mechanisms on how to use the money as advised by the court.
“We have a problem of housing in our country. Housing will help create jobs, reduce the issue of land fragmentation at the expense of arable land, and sort out manufacturing.
I'm very confident that the court will look at the public good that will come with affordable housing project.
We are giving an opportunity for a mama mboga or bodaboda guy to buy a 400k house where they can pay 4k a month and own a house,” the president said.
Ruto added that the change of the Housing fund from being a contribution to being a tax was for the greater good.
On the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) the president said that Kenyans, who are unable to pay for their health insurance under SHIF, will have their contributions paid by the government.
“Digitisation will enable us to fight corruption. that's why I embarked on digitising government services. We were collecting 60 million from government services every day. Today we are collecting 600 million. By next year we will be collecting a minimum of Sh2billion from e-citizen every day. That will stop corruption,” Ruto said.
On the success of e-citizen payments the president said: “KWS budget yearly is about Sh4.3 billion. We give them about Sh4.5 billion. In six months, because of e citizen, they have collected 4.3 billion in six months. By the end of the year, they will double their collection. I promised Kenyans that the independence of the judiciary would be sacrosanct. They have never received a telephone call from the president on how to manage any case. They ask me for support, and I have given them.”
The president said that the Sh60 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams corruption trial was politically motivated, and that is why the case collapsed.
“When the project stopped, the contractors went to court. They needed the land, but we didn't give them land. but the land was there. Whoever was handling that frustrated them. I have had to negotiate with Italy because we would have paid Sh40 billion, yet we have nothing on the ground,” he said.
