President Uhuru Kenyatta wants all Jubilee pledges fulfilled before next year's elections

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday told his Cabinet to ensure projects that the Jubilee coalition promised are delivered before next year’s elections.

The Head of State reportedly said time was running out and this year is critical to their re-election bid.

“We have to deliver to Kenyans. The remaining one year is the only time we have to push our pledges,” the President is said to have told a Cabinet meeting at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha yesterday.

Among those who attended the meeting were Deputy President William Ruto, Cabinet secretaries, Principal secretaries, security chiefs and National Assembly and Senate committee chairmen.

At the heart of the meeting is alignment of the Sh1.702 trillion budget to ensure delivery of the Jubilee manifesto’s priorities for the 2016-17 Financial Year and Sh284.7 billion for the counties, which Mr Kenyatta believes if properly utilised will give his government a good platform for re-election.

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The two-day annual retreat is meant to review the Government’s performance, including taking stock of the status of projects and the upcoming budget.

According to Cabinet secretaries who spoke confidentially, the President was emphatic that resources should be prudently allocated to projects aligned to the Jubilee manifesto ahead of the 2017 elections.

“The main agenda here is the 2016-17 budget and election preparations... President Kenyatta has set the tone that all the pledged projects including infrastructure, improvement of education are the key deliverables that he is looking forward to,” said the CS.

redirect funds

On infrastructure, the President, according to National Assembly Transport Committee Chairman Maina Kamanda, insisted that all roads promised under his term must be launched and most projects completed within the year.

“He asked us to look for money from the ministries that have low absorption of funds and redirect it to infrastructure with a view to ensuring that all the roads projects are launched before the end of his first term,” said Kamanda.

Other sources indicated that the President is expected to give a brief on the deliberations just like he did in March 2014, when he announced that his Cabinet would take a pay cut in an effort to set the tone for deflating a ballooning public service wage bill.

“The meeting is also expected to review resolutions of the 2014 meeting, where a raft of measures were proposed to bring down national expenditure, including restrictions on international travel and reducing expenditure on hospitality,” said a source that requested anonymity because he is not allowed to comment on Cabinet matters.

Also on the agenda are the upcoming visits by foreign dignitaries who include British Prime Minister David Cameron and international conferences such as the Tokyo International Conference for Africa’s Development slated for August, said the official.

Among the key agenda items the President wants delivered without fail is the 100 per cent transition of school-going children from primary to secondary schools. “I want you to look for money and ensure that 100 per cent transition of primary to secondary school kids is implemented as soon as possible,” he said.

 Communications Secretary and State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said the President was also briefed on the security situation.