President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that there is a clear difference between Jubilee and opposition leaders as the country gears towards the general elections. Speaking during the Jubilee Party Manifesto Launch at Kasarani in Nairobi, President Kenyatta said some leaders are just focused on blaming others, while others clearly scrutinize the accomplished track record and are keen to rectify any mistakes. “There are those amongst us which is us as Jubilee that will take the mistakes we have made in the past and offer hope, opportunity and a future for ou people,” he said. President Kenyatta said they wish to give the people of Kenya a government that works with and empowers the people, “At the end of the day the govcernment doesn’t belong to an individual, so what can be greater than empowering the 45 million to stand up and live without depending on a government, foreigner or anyone,” he said.
The President outlined achievemnts set by the Jubilee government, including the successful implementation of the constitution, devolution among other strategic pillars of governance they were faced with as a government, including easy access to government services and education. “Today, Kenyans who want government services can access them wherever they are. One doesn’t need to travel to Nairobi to get an ID,” he said. “We decided that no child will be denied entry to a secondary school or higher education institution because the parent has been told to pay certificate fees.”
He also outlined the success of the Standard Gauge Railway project, “We decided to set up our railway project to another level. For the first time since the Europeans set foot in this country long ago, Kenyans can travel to Mombasa by rail easily at a cheap price compared to travelling by buses.” He also highlighted the success of regional conferences, citing that it has helped foster good relations with other nations and they’ve also been vital to economic growth. He said that relations are now stable and traveling to neighboring nations is now easy and all one needs is an Identification Card.
Given that there were concerns that other nations would shun the country after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in the past elections, he was quick to stress the fact that it isn’t the case now, “We were told if you elect us, other nations globally would break ties with us. Today there is no country that doesn’t want to receive the President of the Republic of Kenya.”
President Kenyatta also expressed his delight with the success of devolution. “Today we have 47 Governors who can’t say they’ve been denied funds by the government. The Constitution gave us a period of at least seven years to accomplish devolution and we said we wouldn’t delay at all,” he said, “After two and a half years, all the functions that were to be directed to the devolved governments were duly handed over.”
The Jubilee manifesto is anchored on three pillars, which include; Transforming Lives, Transforming Society, and Transforming the Nation. There are seven targets within the first pillar, which include Empowering Youth and Women and Transforming Health Services. The second pillar has five targets, which include Good Governance, Justice and the fight against corruption, Security and Policing among others. The third pillar has eight targets which include Foreign Relations and Trade, Building Africa’s Silicon Savannah and Building a Vibrant Tourism Sector.