Free healthcare for elderly tops President Uhuru's poll manifesto

President Uhuru Kenyatta photo:courtesy

President Uhuru Kenyatta will tell Kenyans what he seeks to do for them in the next five years should he be re-elected.

The Jubilee Party manifesto, which is to be launched at the Kasarani Sports Complex, has given priority to healthcare, education, job creation and infrastructure.

Some of the pledges President Uhuru and his deputy, William Ruto, have been making in their campaigns are contained in the document to be made public.

Top in the manifesto is provision of free secondary education, which the party has promised to roll out starting January next year, expansion of the ongoing rural electrification and completion of Phase II of the standard gauge railway (SGR) to connect the country with Uganda.

The ruling party is also seeking to roll out free medical cover to all Kenyans above 70 years of age.

The Jubilee administration is also promising to provide NHIF cards to mothers at post-natal stage as a follow-up step to free maternity for one year, as well as to fully roll out NHIF as means to universal healthcare.

The President will also be telling Kenyans how he seeks to provide quality, affordable and adequate urban housing to the ballooning population in major towns.

Sources within the party further said the Head of State would be telling Kenyans how his administration seeks to deal with the growing number of unemployed youths, with one of the measures being paid internship for university and tertiary colleges graduates.

PAID INTERNSHIP

The internship programme is expected to give 100,000 graduates jobs for 12 to 18 months, leading to permanent jobs and attaining crucial experience.

In its 2013 manifesto, the Uhuru administration promised to put food and clean water on every Kenyan table, ensure every child in the country gets quality education as well as create wealth.

High cost of living has, however, hit the country in the last couple of months with basic commodities like maize flour and sugar missing in the supermarket shelves.

This forced the Government to import tax-exempted maize, which has, however, not alleviated the shortage as cartels hide the products.

Jubilee also promised to provide quality and affordable healthcare. It somehow succeeded in rolling out free maternal healthcare and equipped at least two hospitals in every county with modern equipment.

"In the health sector, we waived fee on maternal healthcare and upgraded 94 hospitals in the 47 counties to referral status and equipped them. Close to six million Kenyans are now registered under NHIF's outpatient medical cover," said National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale.

But the sector has been hit by strikes, which brought total paralysis in its operations. Doctors downed their tools for 100 days in the beginning of the year, occasioning deaths of patients.