Implement initiatives to deliver on pledges

President William Ruto has used his very first Mashujaa (Heroes) Day celebrations in Nairobi as the Head of State to reiterate his election campaign pledges and shed light on his administration’s priorities going forward.

This 59th celebration comes at a time when the country faces serious challenges, especially hunger in the arid and semi-arid areas affecting almost 3.4 million people.

The President also used the opportunity to give details on some issues of serious concern to Kenyans. These are early days, indeed, as the formation of the government is under way with Parliament vetting Cabinet Secretary nominees.

The transition will, definitely, take a little longer as the team that served under his predecessor, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, prepares to exit.

But affecting everyone is the high cost of living, with the prices of fuel and food yet to stabilise.

However, President Ruto has opted for the tough approach, by removing the expensive subsidies to ease the public burden.

The President also addressed his pet Hustler Fund, with fears over a possible about-turn.

But he has clarified that the fund is still at the core of the government’s agenda of enabling poor Kenyans to improve their livelihoods.

But it is advisable to fine-tune the implementation of the pledges to make them more manageable.

Although the fund will not provide free money, several interventions are being made for credit to be accessible, preferably to organised groups like co-operatives.

Commendable, though, is the progress in agriculture. The sector is expected to play a key role in turning around the economy. Subsidised fertiliser has been dispatched to farmers at Sh3,500 per 50kg bag, half the earlier price.

Some 1.5 million bags have been imported for the short rains and should help to boost food production in the next three or so months. Another six million bags will be imported for the long-rains season, he said. Relief food supplies have also been dispatched.

These are short-term measures. The solution to the perennial food shortages is irrigation, reducing reliance on rain-fed agriculture. Three million acres of irrigable land have been identified and public-private partnerships will be explored. 

Climate-smart housing

His promise to build affordable housing, especially in the urban centres, will ease demand. The ambitious target is to increase the number of new units from 50,000 to 200,000 every year with the government an enabler and also sponsor of some projects.

The government plans incentives to attract investments in housing, including VAT refunds to developers.

Quite interesting is the initiative to provide quality climate-smart housing that Kenyans can acquire with monthly mortgages of Sh5,000-15,000. This has remained a pipe dream for many low-income earners, who often pay more in rent.

Access to credit is another promise that should greatly stimulate and invigorate the economy.

This is an area that has been in the grip of unscrupulous lenders, especially those running mobile credit apps.

The government has made some headway in that. Punitive lending has been the order of the day but, because of government intervention, some four million borrowers who had been blacklisted for defaulting will soon be freed from the yoke of the Credit Reference Bureau.

There is much more the administration must do to reverse the country’s sorry state. One major handicap is the failure of healthcare, which has become too expensive or non-existent in some areas.

This naturally undermines the ability to achieve prosperity as a sick nation cannot be productive.

The President wants reforms in the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and he is upbeat about the increasing enrolment.

However, NHIF is dogged by mismanagement and corruption. It has also tended to favour civil servants over the other members. This is not how to build a united country.

The criterion for service should be purely membership contributions and not whom one works for.

Other initiatives include investment in the digital superhighway and the creative economy, targeting the youthful segment of the population.

Also eagerly awaited are education reforms, following the recent launch of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform, which will look into the Competency-Based Curriculum, tertiary and university education.

The problem with such a full basket is the likelihood of items being ignored or scratched on the surface.

But it is good that the President inadvertently provided a checklist, which will be easy to monitor and evaluate implementation and success.