Jubilee: Journey ahead still long and torturous

Jubilee leaders Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto during the 2013 campaigns. (Photo: Standard/File)

By FRANCIS NGIGE

Nairobi, Kenya: Exactly a year ago today, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared Uhuru Kenyatta the fourth President of Kenya.

 Although the results were contested by the Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) at the Supreme Court, Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto were sworn into office a month later after clearing the legal hurdle.

Once in office and having sold their candidature on a platform of an ambitious manifesto, the hard part over the past year has been to remain focused and implement the agenda promised by their Jubilee coalition.

Having criss-crossed the country in the grueling campaigns, the Uhuru group that christened itself the ‘digital team’ made numerous promises including a pledge to revamp infrastructure, introduce use of laptops in schools and grow the economy by double digits.

With unemployment reaching alarming proportions, the Jubilee team promised to create jobs and save hundreds of unemployed youth from penury.

And exactly a year after that declaration, Uhuru marshaled his government troops to the exclusive Mt Kenya Safari Club for a four-day retreat to review the achievements and challenges experienced during the Jubilee first year in power.

When he emerged to give a scorecard for his administration, a buoyant Uhuru said although the transformation his team promised had started, the journey was still long and tortuous.

“The transformation has begun. Our main concern this week was to see what we could do to hasten that transformation,” Uhuru declared, flanked by Ruto and the entire Cabinet.

Apart from Cabinet Secretaries, the meeting also brought together Principal Secretaries, security and intelligence chiefs as well as the Head of the Public Service Joseph Kinyua.

The meeting, described by Ruto as one of its kind, saw top Government officials speak candidly about their dockets, discuss among other things the challenges that the coalition has faced since it took power last year. Perhaps what will overshadow, the other deliberations made at the retreat was the bold move by Uhuru and his Cabinet to take a pay cut in a bid to check the ballooning public wage bill.

Uhuru and his deputy agreed to have their salaries slashed by 20 per cent while Cabinet Secretaries will have their pay cut by 10 per cent.

With the country still facing challenges in security and the rising cost of living, Uhuru, according to those The Standard on Sunday spoke to, was categorical that as the Government ushers a new year in power, the two issues should be given priority. “The President was very categorical that the honeymoon is over for the Cabinet, saying one year was far too much for minister to familiarise themselves with their docket,” a source told The Standard On Sunday.

Indeed, Uhuru was blunt when he opened the Cabinet getaway telling the senior Government officials that they must strive to achieve the set targets and clear the Government of any blame. He also warned that the Government would not tolerate Cabinet Secretaries who rally back to it mid-year, asking for extra funding. The President warned that the Government has set up the contingency fund, which was only meant for emergencies.

“Once we finalise ourselves with budget making process, there will be no more coming back for more budgetary allocation. We are trying to do away with the supplementary budget and you must put your plans in place now,” he said.

No more funds

He continued: “We have only one contingency fund and it is not for ministries to come mid-year and ask for extra funding. If you did not factor some programmes during budget making, you should not ask for more funds since you never wanted them in the first place”.

He ordered the ministers to prioritise State projects and implement them to success, adding that Kenyans have supported the Government as it implements its agenda. Noting that there was no room for failure, Uhuru was categorical that every Cabinet Secretary’s performance would be gauged by what they had been achieved in implementing the Jubilee manifesto.

“There is no individual success, only collective failure. If you fail, it is the Government that will fail,” he said. While some may argue that it is too early to judge the Uhuru administration, questions are abound about its ability to achieve some programmes it had primed in its manifesto.

The laptop per every kid joining class one in public school is yet to materialise although a tender has already been issued and the Government has promised that the project would be up and running by May.

The Standard Gauge Railway, one of the flagship projects of the Uhuru administration, is mired in controversy with, some critics saying the deal is not above board but the President has insisted that no matter what, it will proceed to its logical conclusion. And this did not escape his mind during the Nanyuki retreat where he repeated for the umpteenth time: “The project is on course and nothing will prevent us from finishing it.” Taking stock of the achievements of his administration, Uhuru pointed out the free maternity services in all public hospitals was one of the key successes realised by his Government.

“Remarkable improvements in our management of child and maternal health have followed: If I were allowed just one example, I would mention our vastly improved ability to monitor the health of HIV positive mothers, and to intervene early to prevent transmission to children,” was the President’s assessment of the health sector.

“The flagship projects – the Standard Gauge Railway, the laptops that will serve our children, the free maternal care that has already begun to save lives, the irrigation schemes that will feed our hungry; and the establishment of devolution under the new constitution – all these and more now rest on the firmest of foundations,” Uhuru said.

On security, Uhuru noted although a lot had been done there was still plans to make Kenya a safe haven for locals and investors.