A PEAK INTO PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS.
Excerpts from H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of The Nation Address
None of us in this August House today will have forgotten that last year was election year, or that the region was affected by severe drought.
Hon. Members,
It is encouraging to note that, despite these challenges, our economy remained resilient. Our real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.9 percent in 2017, much higher than 3.6 percent for World Real GDP and 2.6 percent for sub-Saharan Africa real GDP.
Even more encouraging was the performance of our tourism sector; tourism earnings grew twenty per cent — proof that even when our politics is at its hottest, Kenya keeps its visitors’ confidence.
Hon. Members,
We remain on course to meet the tests that Kenyans set for us, but we must admit that we still have a long way to go. Deeper reflection is, therefore, called for.
If we are to create the jobs for which Kenyans long, we need investment. When I took office in 2013, my Administration promised and delivered the most aggressive surge of infrastructure development in Kenya’s history.
We knew that without radical renewal and improvement of our infrastructure and connectivity, we could not hope to attract the investment we needed to create jobs and prosperity, and to beat poverty.
Many of you will recall the success of that first phase of development: we started to build the SGR after the 11th Parliament was sworn in, and by the time members returned home to ask voters to renew their mandate, we had brought the SGR to Nairobi.
As I speak to you today, less than a year since that first train left Mombasa for Nairobi, nearly 700,000 passengers have taken the Madaraka Express. On the cargo side, I am pleased to state that as promised, the SGR cargo services were up and running on the 1st of January, 2018 with an initial monthly load of 22,345 metric tonnes rising to an impressive 213,559 metric tonnes per month as of the end of April, 2018.
But that is not all. I have already launched the second phase of the SGR project, which runs from Nairobi to Naivasha; and negotiations are in progress for the financing of the Naivasha- Malaba line. In short, Hon. Members, I can report that last year we completed the most ambitious infrastructure development in Kenya’s history.
Hon. Members,
It was not, of course, the only ambitious work in infrastructure that we undertook. Hon. Members will remember that we opened Terminal 2A at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport some time ago; we would almost certainly have earned less revenue from tourism this year had we not made that investment.
You might also recall the expansion of Last-Mile Connectivity, which has brought electricity to 71% of households, up from 27% in 2013.
I am particularly proud of this success, for I know its transformative power: I have seen for myself that on the day a family first switches on a bulb, their entire lives change.
Hon Members,
When I assumed office as President, we promised to tarmac 10,000 kms roads across the country; we are on target having completed 3,000 kms to-date and with a further 5,000 kms under construction. Among the many roads we have constructed, I want to mention one, that is, the Isiolo - Moyale Road, part of the Trans Africa Highway Corridor, running to our border with Ethiopia. This road is transforming the economy of this region, for the better of our people.
Our people from that part of the country can now easily travel to their national capital, Nairobi, in a matter of hours, contrary to the past when they used to take days. They now feel they have reason to be proud to be Kenyans.
These investments in infrastructure laid the firmest of foundations for the broad and shared prosperity that Kenyans expect. This term, Hon. Members, we must deliver it.
I have already spoken about the “Big Four” Agenda in other forums but it deserves me talking about it to you, Hon. Members, not least because I will rely on you to pass the legislation upon which it depends; but, more importantly, to convince you to join me as agents of the desired change. I wish today to speak on the reasoning that informs this agenda.
If you Hon. Members leave the House today with a clearer idea of your role as leaders in this development programme, then I will be the happiest man.
Hon. Members,
I conceptualized about the “Big Four” from discussions I held with Kenyans about their problems and prospects, particularly as we went about seeking their support.
The priorities they would want us to focus on are clear. Kenyans want their families kept safe from catastrophic bills for medical care; they want skilled jobs, especially in manufacturing; they want to be food secure, and they want dignified, affordable homes. The “Big Four” Agenda serves each of these.
None of us in this August House today will have forgotten that last year was election year, or that the region was affected by severe drought.
Hon. Members,
It is encouraging to note that, despite these challenges, our economy remained resilient. Our real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.9 percent in 2017, much higher than 3.6 percent for World Real GDP and 2.6 percent for sub-Saharan Africa real GDP.
Even more encouraging was the performance of our tourism sector; tourism earnings grew twenty per cent — proof that even when our politics is at its hottest, Kenya keeps its visitors’ confidence.
Hon. Members,
We remain on course to meet the tests that Kenyans set for us, but we must admit that we still have a long way to go. Deeper reflection is, therefore, called for.
If we are to create the jobs for which Kenyans long, we need investment. When I took office in 2013, my Administration promised and delivered the most aggressive surge of infrastructure development in Kenya’s history.
We knew that without radical renewal and improvement of our infrastructure and connectivity, we could not hope to attract the investment we needed to create jobs and prosperity, and to beat poverty.
Many of you will recall the success of that first phase of development: we started to build the SGR after the 11th Parliament was sworn in, and by the time members returned home to ask voters to renew their mandate, we had brought the SGR to Nairobi.
As I speak to you today, less than a year since that first train left Mombasa for Nairobi, nearly 700,000 passengers have taken the Madaraka Express. On the cargo side, I am pleased to state that as promised, the SGR cargo services were up and running on the 1st of January, 2018 with an initial monthly load of 22,345 metric tonnes rising to an impressive 213,559 metric tonnes per month as of the end of April, 2018.
But that is not all. I have already launched the second phase of the SGR project, which runs from Nairobi to Naivasha; and negotiations are in progress for the financing of the Naivasha- Malaba line. In short, Hon. Members, I can report that last year we completed the most ambitious infrastructure development in Kenya’s history.
Hon. Members,
It was not, of course, the only ambitious work in infrastructure that we undertook. Hon. Members will remember that we opened Terminal 2A at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport some time ago; we would almost certainly have earned less revenue from tourism this year had we not made that investment.
You might also recall the expansion of Last-Mile Connectivity, which has brought electricity to 71% of households, up from 27% in 2013.
I am particularly proud of this success, for I know its transformative power: I have seen for myself that on the day a family first switches on a bulb, their entire lives change.
Hon Members,
When I assumed office as President, we promised to tarmac 10,000 kms roads across the country; we are on target having completed 3,000 kms to-date and with a further 5,000 kms under construction. Among the many roads we have constructed, I want to mention one, that is, the Isiolo - Moyale Road, part of the Trans Africa Highway Corridor, running to our border with Ethiopia. This road is transforming the economy of this region, for the better of our people.
Our people from that part of the country can now easily travel to their national capital, Nairobi, in a matter of hours, contrary to the past when they used to take days. They now feel they have reason to be proud to be Kenyans.
These investments in infrastructure laid the firmest of foundations for the broad and shared prosperity that Kenyans expect. This term, Hon. Members, we must deliver it.
I have already spoken about the “Big Four” Agenda in other forums but it deserves me talking about it to you, Hon. Members, not least because I will rely on you to pass the legislation upon which it depends; but, more importantly, to convince you to join me as agents of the desired change. I wish today to speak on the reasoning that informs this agenda.
If you Hon. Members leave the House today with a clearer idea of your role as leaders in this development programme, then I will be the happiest man.
Hon. Members,
I conceptualized about the “Big Four” from discussions I held with Kenyans about their problems and prospects, particularly as we went about seeking their support.
The priorities they would want us to focus on are clear. Kenyans want their families kept safe from catastrophic bills for medical care; they want skilled jobs, especially in manufacturing; they want to be food secure, and they want dignified, affordable homes. The “Big Four” Agenda serves each of these.
President Uhuru Kenyatta giving his State of the Nation address to a joint sitting of Parliament Nairobi|FILE
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