State shakes up publicity of Uhuru legacy plans

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta signs the Division of Revenue Bill, 2021 into law at State House, Nairobi, on April 30, 2021. PHOTO | PSCU

By OTIATO GUGUYU
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SUMMARY

• Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua said all public reporting channels have been collapsed into a single unit comprising the Presidential Delivery Unit and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat.
• All advertisements and public communication will also bear logos of Kenya’s Vision 2030, Big Four agenda, and the institution’s logo, the directive further said.
• In a move aimed at ensuring the implementation of Mr Kenyatta’s legacy projects, Mr Kinyua said all institutions involved would be audited by teams from the Presidency.

The government has moved to improve supervision and publicity for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy projects, reorganising its public communication and advertising teams and ordering ministries to make mandatory quarterly reports on the progress of projects under the Vision 2030 and Big Four agenda.

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua said all public reporting channels have been collapsed into a single unit comprising the Presidential Delivery Unit and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat.

“As part of the framework objective and to ensure efficiency and appropriate content referencing all advertisements and public communications shall be edited, curated and compartmentalised under the appropriate Kenya Vision 2030, and Big Four Agenda by the Vison 2030 Secretariat and the Presidential Delivery Unit for subsequent dissemination by the government spokesman,” he said in a circular dated August 24, 2021.

All advertisements and public communication will also bear logos of Kenya’s Vision 2030, Big Four agenda, and the institution’s logo, the directive further said.

In a move aimed at ensuring the implementation of Mr Kenyatta’s legacy projects, Mr Kinyua said all institutions involved would be audited by teams from the Presidency.

“Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat and the Presidential Delivery Unit will jointly audit all public institutions quarterly. Consequently, all ministries departments and agencies will be required to submit evidence of compliance within 15 days at the end of each quarter,” he said.

The State has spent billions of shillings each year on the President’s Big Four Agenda but has struggled to show its impact on the ordinary Kenyans.

In the current financial year, the Treasury allocated Sh450.9 billion to fund Big Four agenda programmes, a Sh50 billion increase from the previous fiscal year.

The funds were meant to boost manufacturing, food and nutrition security, affordable housing, and universal health coverage as well as enabling infrastructure such as roads, industrial parks, power plants, and electricity transmission.

Despite the efforts, the universal health coverage programme has only been piloted in Kisumu, Nyeri, Isiolo, and Machakos counties while the government has only delivered over 1,600 units cumulatively against half a billion target.