Uhuru to unveil new Cabinet in a few weeks

President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi as he delivers the New Year message to Kenyans on December 31, 2017. PHOTO | PSCU 

In Summary

• The President called on all elected leaders to serve Kenyans.
• He also acknowledged serious security challenges.

By IBRAHIM ORUKO
More by this Author

By SAM KIPLAGAT
More by this Author

By DAVID MWERE
More by this Author

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he will unveil his new Cabinet in a few weeks.

In his New Year message to Kenyans on Sunday evening, the President said those appointed are expected to uphold the highest standard of integrity.

“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.

INTEGRITY

“I will expect these men and women to serve Kenyans without partiality and with the very highest standard of integrity and efficiency. They must prove themselves worthy of the trust Kenyans will have bestow on them,” he said in a live broadcast.

The President called on all elected leaders to serve Kenyans.

“Whether you are the leader of a family or of a small community, an MCA, an MP, a Senator, a Governor or a Cabinet Secretary, your job is to serve, to work hard every single day to confirm that the choice in you as leader was the right choice.

“The trust that we have been given as leaders is a sacred one. It was given to build, to deliver development, to concretely improve the lives of your constituents,” he said promising to work hard to deliver in 2018.

CARGO

On his achievement for the last five years, the President noted that his government had constructed a world-class railway line on time and within budget and revealed that from January 2, the standard gauge railway will begin transporting commercial cargo, cutting costs and delays in trade for Kenyan businesspeople and neighbouring countries.

He said he had delivered on this promise 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.

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.

EXAM SYSTEM

“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; 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 serious security challenges, but noted that his administration has in the last five years strengthened responses towards the threats.

SECURITY OFFICERS

Terrorist now find it harder in succeeding in their evil plans, he said, because of the brave, empowered and supported security officers.

“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.

He described 2017 as an extraordinary year and said he looks forward with hope to personal and national progress in 2018.

For the first time in the history of the country, the presidential election was nullified and Kenyans sent to the polls for the second time.

NASA

In the repeat poll ordered by the court in October 26, Opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) boycotted but that did not stopped Kenyans from challenging it for the second time.

The Supreme Court, however, upheld President Kenyatta’s win despite protestations from Nasa. The protracted political tension stalled progress and the economy was hard it.

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.”