22 months in power: President Ruto highlights key achievements

 

President William Ruto

President William Ruto on Thursday outlined key achievements of the Kenya kwanza government since assuming power in September 2022.

Speaking during an address to the nation at State House Nairobi, President Ruto detailed the progress made under the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), cornerstone of their 2022 general election campaign.

Ruto said the government has managed to increase food production by reducing the cost of farm inputs through the fertilizer subsidy program which has led to low cost of food and living.

“We have also stabilised the economy by preventing what was an imminent debt default, stabilising fuel prices, lowering inflation and stabilising the foreign exchange regime, among others,” he stated.

The President highlighted that the government has implemented radical changes in the education sector, including resolving uncertainty around the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).

The government also facilitated the roll-out of a new student-focused higher education funding model, with special emphasis on students from vulnerable families.

Additionally, the student-teacher ratio improved by employing 56,000 teachers for primary and secondary schools and 2,000 tutors for Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions (TVET).

The head of state noted that his administration had resolved the bottlenecks in the cash transfer programme for vulnerable Kenyans, including orphans, the elderly and people living with severe disabilities, by ensuring that the beneficiaries receive their stipend at the same time as the 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,” he stated.

He further indicated that the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) plan has already onboarded 107,000 community health promoters, with the registration process for the Social Health Insurance Fund ongoing ahead of its launch on October 1, 2024.

The President assured that the digital transformation agenda is also on course with 17,000 Government services online, while 274 digital hubs, including in TVET colleges, are up and running.

On the Affordable Housing Programme, Ruto said more than 100,000 housing units were under construction across the country and 160,000 young people have been employed under the program.

“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, Ruto said the government imposed levies on the importation of clinker, saving the country Ksh20 billion in foreign exchange.

“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 KSh110 billion in foreign exchange,” he said.

By Prudence Wanza