State of the Nation Address is gone, now time to act and deliver results

President Uhuru Kenyatta when he delivered this year’s State of the Nation address.

On Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta delivered this year’s State of the Nation address. Notable was the note by the President that he had heard the cries of the people of Kenya as he navigated issues around job creation, government reforms to improve service provision to all Kenyans, safety of all Kenyans and their property, inclusion, cohesion, unity and respect for all Kenyans.

The President reiterated the determination to “gift our children a better Kenyan than we found.” What now remains is for President Uhuru to follow through his words and not let this speech pass as just another one that will remain only good on paper. There must be action to complete and complement the words. Among them is the fight against corruption in which Kenyans have lost a good chunk of money that should be improving lives.

While the public waited with bated breath to hear the President crack the whip on leaders suspected of engaging in corruption, especially in his Cabinet, he chose to walk the road of the law – this a good thing.

However, the President must remember that corruption has stretched out the public thin to a point that giving up is slowly becoming an option. He must work hard to ensure that his comments are neither misconstrued to mean that he has given up nor seen as postponing action to another time. The President should therefore first come out and ensure that the threats by some few MPs that seek to clip the wings of the DCI and DPP are nipped in the bud.

He must be categorical that while nobody will be subjected to witch-hunt in the name of fighting corruption, no sacred cows will exist even from among his friends. In his speech, President Uhuru reiterated the need for respect of the rule of law by all regardless of their standing in society. When all is said and done, President Uhuru must remember that he will not be remembered just because he read wonderful speeches but on how good he turned those words into action. The time is now Mr President to make even just one of the promises a reality.