A. BIG PUSH INVESTMENTS:
In just 8 years we have almost doubled Kenya’s road network. In 2013, there were 11,200 Kilometers of tarmacked roads constructed by four previous administrations in 123 years. These included the administration of the colonizers and the three administrations before me.
Uhuru has built roads 15 times faster than all previous administrations. We have built 10,500 Kilometers of roads across the Republic by being 15 times faster than the previous administrations.
Kenya is now linked to 4 of its 5 neighbours by tarmacked roads. Over the last 8 years, and for the first time since independence, Kenya is now linked to 4 of its 5 neighbours by tarmacked roads. This is how we are facilitating the economic integration of the region. Tearing down every barrier to the realization of our shared aspirations as a people.
B. ECONOMIC ACCELERATION
In 8 years Kenya has gained more wealth than any other country in Africa. In 2013, Kenya was Africa’s 12th wealthiest nation with a GDP of Ksh.4.74 Trillion. This GDP was accumulated in a span of 123 years through the four administrations before ours.
We have doubled GDP in just 8 years In just 8 years, My Administration has multiplied this GDP by a factor of two PLUS. Today, our GDP stands at Ksh.11 Trillion, up from Ksh.4.74 Trillion. From being ranked as the 12th wealthiest nation in Africa when I took over, we have moved six ranks to become the 6th wealthiest nation on the continent, on account of the choices we have made.
In the second quarter of 2021, our real GDP grew by 10.1%, the first such growth in the history of our economy. The notable contributors to this growth include the ICT sector, which grew by a significant 25.1% in the second quarter of 2021.
For Ksh.1 collected in taxes by the colonizers and the first three regimes in 120 years, we have collected Ksh.166 in just 8 years.
In the last 8 years KRA has collected Shs.10.8 trillion cumulatively in revenue. This means that in just 8 years KRA has collected the equivalent of Kenya’s GDP. It also means that on average KRA collected Kshs.1.3 trillion every year. In fact for every Kshs.1.3 trillion KRA collected every year, the colonizers and the governments of Jomo, Moi and Kibaki collected Shs.7 Billion every year. This in effect means that for every Shs.166 we have collected in 8 years, the colonizers and the first 3 regimes collected Shs.1 in 123 years.
KRA SURPASSED TARGET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 8 YEARS.
Despite the COVID lock-down measures, KRA surpassed its revenue collection target for the first time in 8 years. Last year KRA raised Shs.1.67 trillion. This is more than the Shs.1.52 trillion shillings that it targeted to raise last year.
This financial year, KRA has for the FIRST time in history surpassed its monthly targets by Shs.27 Billion. KRA has for the first time in its history collected more revenue, each month than it targeted to collect. From July to October 2021, KRA collected Shs.631 Billion, which Shs.27 Billion more than it intended to collect. In fact KRA collected Shs.140 Billion more in October this year than it collected last year.
C. RESTORATION OF DIGNITY
In 8 years President Uhuru has sank 2500 boreholes. In 120 years the colonizers and the first 3 regimes sank 99 boreholes. When President Uhuru took Office in 2013, our entire Country was served by just 99 Public Boreholes. In the past financial year alone, managed to sink 262 public Boreholes. And today more than 2,511 Public Boreholes have been sunk since 2013. This is a 25–fold increase in the number of Boreholes.
NMS has set up 1600 water points in Nairobi alone. This is why the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has set up 1,600 water points in the informal settlements to supply free water to the residents. Since 2019, we have connected over 2.1 million vulnerable Kenyans. Administration has over the years invested over Ksh. 200 Billion to implement various dams and other integrated community projects that will increase water supply to vulnerable communities.
In Nairobi Metropolitan Area alone, the project is set to supply 41.3 million liters of water per day to an additional 2.1 million residents. Saving poor families in slum areas Sh.1,200, per family, every month. The average daily consumption of water per household in informal settlements in Nairobi is 40 litres. If the price of the 40 litres is Ksh.40, a household will spend Ksh.1,200 per month buying water only. This is 20% of the income of an average family and for the most part, the price of water has been higher than that of rent.
We will have 100% Universal Health Care by 2022! The objective of My Administration is to end this by providing 100% universal health coverage for essential health services by 2022.
Kenya has 3rd best Health care system in Africa. According to the Health Care Index, which gives a single measure of the state of each country’s health system based on data provided by the World Health Organization, Kenya ranks third behind South Africa and Tunisia among the most improved healthcare systems in Africa in the year 2020.
For every 4 health centers that were built in 118 years, we built 1 in 8 years. In terms of access to healthcare, when My Administration took over in 2013, the number of health facilities across the country stood at 4,430. My Administration has increased our medical facilities by 43 percent by building 1,912 new hospitals in the last 8 years. This is an average of 239 new facilities per year.
We have built 6 times more hospitals in 8 years than all 4 regimes combined. In context, in the previous 118 years only 4,430 hospitals had been built in Kenya, an average of 37 hospitals per year; but, under My Administration we have built 6 times more hospitals per year than all four previous administrations combined.
Kenya has the highest Health Budget in East Africa. Kenya has the highest budgetary allocation for health in East Africa, which currently stands at Ksh.121.1 Billion for the year 2021. Our sizable health budget will be used to expand access to primary health care services, ensure free maternity care, eliminate user fees for public primary care facilities, and subsidize health insurance for the elderly and severely disabled.
We have saved Kenyans Shs. 55 billion in Hospital Bills in just 1 year! In the financial year 2019/2021, NHIF managed to pay for 4.44 Million hospital visits; covering 1.43 Million cases of Inpatient Services and 3.01 Million cases of Outpatient Services. This in turn saved Kenyan households, approximately Ksh.54.9 Billion in financial losses brought about by health-related issues.
D. POLITICAL STABILISATION
We risk losing everything we have invested if don’t have political insurance. If every five years toxic political climate and election-time tensions would reverse the gains painfully secured, our impressive development record of accomplishment would be an immense tower sadly built on sand not rock.
Political Stabilization is a continuous process that each administration must do. For the record, political stabilisation is not an end in of itself. It is a continuous process that every administration after me must apply their minds to and secure. Let me explain.
In December this year we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the repealing of section 2A!Next month, we will celebrate 30 years of the political pluralism gained following the reintroduction of multi-party politics through the repeal of Section 2A of the former constitution on 10th of December, 1991.
From the Mlolongo voting system of the KANU era to our vibrant democracy today, we must celebrate the journey we have taken and the expanded fields of freedoms we enjoy. We have fought in every election cycle-this must stop! While undoubtedly multi-party politics has been a better democratic platform than the single-party state, we must not ignore the very real negative aspects of our politics and electioneering. The evidence of this is plainly observable in the elections of 1992, 1997, 2007, 2013, and 2017; with only 2002 being an outlier.
In 1992, the election cost us Ksh.248 Billion in lost economic growth. Lives were lost and populations displaced. And during this election, Kenya’s Foreign Direct Investments fell by two-thirds, from Ksh.1.8 Billion to Ksh.600 Million.
We have lost lives and livelohoods in every election since 1992
In 2007, the election eroded the equivalent of Ksh.250 Billion in lost economic growth in a matter of days. Lives were lost and populations displaced, just as had been the case to a far lesser extent in 1997.
And in 2017, we lost close to Ksh.1 Billion every working hour for the 123 days we held the election. In fact, in the 2017 election the economy lost close to Ksh.1 Trillion in response to the nullification of the presidential election.
And the question we pose to the leadership of this country present here today is this: Is this right? Is this trajectory the logical path that our country should take? Our country has been in a constitutional moment since the 2017 election. The only question is what we should do with that constitutional moment. If we do not embrace it, how will it return to punish our nation? And if we embrace it, who are the winners and losers of that moment? That is the National Question before us today.
We will change the constitution to deal with our cyclical issues We cannot behave like the proverbial ostrich and bury our heads in the sand. A constitutional moment does not resolve itself, simply by being, ignored. The need for political stabilization is the most urgent task facing Kenya today, and it is the foundation upon, which our greater justice, fairness, health, wealth, and security will be built on. For that reason, it shall happen.
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