President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi as he delivers the New
Year message to Kenyans on December 31, 2017. PHOTO | PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke out for the first time about his
new Cabinet, saying he would unveil the team soon to deliver his
administration’s agenda for his second and final term in office.
Speaking
at State House while delivering his New Year’s message to the nation,
the president said that those to be appointed must prove themselves
worthy of the trust Kenyans will have bestowed on them.
“In
the next few weeks, I will unveil the men and women to whom I will
entrust delivery of the ‘Big Four’, and other programmes that will
transform this country. I will expect these men and women to serve
Kenyans without partiality and with the very highest standard of
integrity and efficiency,” President Kenyatta said in his message
delivered live on TV.
The
President also reached out to Kenyans, calling for unity in the New
Year, while describing 2017 as having been an “extra-ordinary year.’’
ACHIEVEMENTS
He
listed his achievements for the last five years, noting that his
government had constructed a world-class railway line on time and within
budget. He announced that tomorrow the railway will begin carrying
commercial cargo, cutting costs and delays in trade for Kenyan business
people and neighbouring countries.
He said he had delivered on this
promises because he knew that to attract world-class manufacturing and
value-addition investments, which are critical to creating jobs, a
world-class infrastructure is needed.
“We
did the same with roads, by undertaking the most aggressive expansion
and upgrading effort in our nation’s history,” he said.
“Within
this period, there has been rapid growth of connections to electricity,
millions of Kenyan homes and public schools are now lit up,” he said.
GREAT SUCCESS
“We
promised digital learning devices. We delivered. In the last two
years, they have brought new knowledge to hundreds of thousands of our
children. They will do even better academically now that we have
reformed our exam system and raised standards in our institutions of
higher learning.”
The President
said his administration had delivered new and upgraded technical
training institutes throughout the country and reformed the National
Health Insurance Fund and the free maternal care programme has become a
great success.
“We also
delivered modern diagnostic equipment to every county and the long and
expensive bus journeys to Nairobi to access the most modern care have
become a burden of the past,” he said.
He
also acknowledged security challenges, but noted that his
administration has in the last five years strengthened responses towards
the threats.
Terrorist now
find it harder in succeeding in their evil plans, he said, because of
the brave, empowered and supported security officers.
SECURITY
“The
impact of crime in the daily lives of Kenyans has dropped in response
to the sharp increase in the number of police officers whose equipment
is enhanced. There is further to go in securing Kenya and every Kenyan,
but we are on an upward climb that will make our country more secure
month by month,” he said.
President
Kenyatta promised that his administration will continue working each
and every day to ease the life of every Kenyan. “We laid a foundation,
as we promised; we will build on it to bring prosperity and dignity to
every Kenyan,” he said.
He
added: “We worked hard in the last five years to deliver better
services, security, and in building a foundation for a more prosperous
Kenya. We have made remarkable progress; the journey continues, for
there are Kenyans who worry about low incomes, the cost of food and
shelter.”
LOVE
In
his message, Deputy President William Ruto asked Kenyans to
re-dedicate their efforts in the service of the nation and be mindful of
well-being of others so as to build this nation together.
The
DP hailed the public for its patience and perseverance as the country
navigated uncharted waters which has left the country more experienced
and stronger.
“We have
negotiated 2017 through God’s enabling power, boundless mercy and love.
His divine presence has meant we are a blessed nation,” he said in his
new year’s message.
Mr Ruto
particularly singled out the church saying that its untiring efforts and
ministry to preach peace, unity, harmony which have been instrumental
in holding the country together.
He
also paid tribute to the country’s sportsmen and women for their
exemplary performance which has helped raise the Kenyan flag higher and
other patriots for their selfless acts and each other citizen for
playing their part in making Kenya great.
DIALOGUE
Calls
for national dialogue, tolerance and respect for the rule of law were
the dominant themes in the new year’s messages delivered by church
leaders on Sunday.
The clergy
called on Kenyans to hold their political leaders to account and demand
that in their mobilisation promises, genuine interests are not at stake
and whether methods being promised are rational, viable and
productive.
At the All Saints
Cathedral, Provost Cannon Sammy Wainaina opposed calls for swearing in
of Mr Raila Odinga and instead called on the Jubilee government to open
up national dialogue with the National Super Alliance (Nasa) leadership
for the sake of uniting the country.
“We discourage those people calling for the swearing in of Mr Odinga and those objecting to national dialogue,” he said.
He said it is only through dialogue that people can agree on the issues affecting the country.
“It
is not a must when they dialogue to agree on everything, but this will
calm the political temperatures and help the country transit smoothly
into 2018.
DIVIDED
He said 2017 was a year that the country was politically divided which consequently affected the economy.
The
National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) urged Kenyans to refuse
to be chained in endless fracases that are characterised by sloganeering
and mirages that are hollow in real substance.
General
Secretary Peter Karanja, NCCK urged Kenyan communities to re-examine
themselves and establish whether their political leaders are genuinely
representing their interest in their political grandstanding or were
merely massaging their own egos.
“We
will not succeed by telling politicians to subordinate their parochial
interest to the national good. It is important that the political elites
temper competition with cooperation,” the Council said in a statement
signed by General Secretary, Peter Karanja.
SELF-SACRIFICE
“Politicians
must realise that their self-interest would be better advanced by
cooperating – even with former foes – rather than grandstanding.”
He
reminded Kenyans that political transformation does not require
self-sacrifice from leaders and citizens but enlightened self-interest.
Cannon
Karanja asked the political leadership to put the country’s dark past
behind and instead commit to build a greater, peaceful and democratic
nation.
He said such a country
should be the one that espouses the rule of law and respects the mandate
of established institutions; a country devoid of negative ethnicity and
whose people are unified by the spirit and vision shared across all its
generations.
“These are
aspirations that can be achieved through serious commitments of each and
every one of us. We cannot afford to derail these enormous and willful
investments in peace and national cohesion.”
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