- Government spokesperson says said the projects done by President Kenyatta’s administration were not tied to his term and that many have been completed.
- He has cited projects such as Lamu port, Nairobi Expressway, SGR and Isiolo Airport that he said were under Vision 2030 and are operational.
Image: Alice Waithera
The end of Jubilee administration’s term will not affect implementation of ongoing projects, government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna has said.
Oguna said majority of the projects that have been implemented by the administration are anchored on Vision 2030 and cannot be done away with by the successive government.
As elections draw closer, both Azimio La Umoja and Kenya Kwanza have made Jubilee government’s projects their focus as they try to sway Kenyans to rally behind them.
Azimio has promised to complete ongoing projects started by the Jubilee administration while the Kenya Kwanza team has pledged to restructure the operations of the government in a bid to streamline services.
Last week, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia, while issuing title deeds in Murang’a county, urged residents to vote for Azimio, saying it is the team that will ensure projects such as the Kenol-Sagana-Marua dual carriageway and the Sh30 billion Maumau roads are completed.
But Kandara MP Alice Wahome, a staunch Kenya Kwanza supporter, said their administration will change the way the government operates to seal loopholes used to waste public funds.
Oguna said the projects done by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration were not tied to his term and that many have been completed.
Image: Alice Waithera
He cited projects such as Lamu port, Nairobi Expressway, Standard Gauge Railway and Isiolo Airport that he said were under Vision 2030 and are operational.
The end of Jubilee administration, he said, will not signify the end of Kenyans’ quest to move from a developing nation to a mid-level economy
“What we are doing right now is to implement aspirations of the country to move from one level of economic development to another. That will go on," Oguna said.
"Kenyans should not worry that whatever has been done by the Jubilee government can be done away with by the next government.”
The government spokesperson further said the government has been issuing cash transfer and distributing physical food to more than three million Kenyans who are facing starvation.
About 23 counties have been facing an acute shortage of rainfall for the last three seasons, causing food distress among residents.
Oguna said though provision of food has been done over time, the government considered using cash transfer due to its physical implications.
But cash transfer also faced challenges as most of the beneficiaries used other people’s mobile phone numbers which presented a conflict with the data provided by Safaricom.
“Many of the beneficiaries would use their name and identity card but somebody else’s mobile number. So in order to ensure that they are fed, even as the anomalies are corrected, the government decided to re-introduce physical food distribution,” he said.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
“Right now, the government is providing food aid and at the same time sending them cash transfer.”
The government has also been providing water and pasture to most of the victims who rely on livestock and buying the worn out cattle which are slaughtered and issued back to them as food aid.
Oguna said the government is working on long term interventions to equip residents of the affected areas with the capability to adapt to future droughts.
“Most of these areas experience persistent conflicts over resources and we have introduced alternative dispute resolution where residents agree on how to amicably use the resources,” he said.
The government, he added, has also been repairing roads to ease farmers’ access to the market while allowing support to get to them in good time.
The government spokesperson also said hospitals have been upgraded to provide healthcare to those affected while children below the age of five are provided with infant feeds.
Oguna confirmed that some abandoned dams in the areas are also being repaired to help in water preservation. He spoke while inspecting the Sh32 million Kanyenya-ini market that is 93 per cent done and will accommodate 150 traders.
The government spokesperson said the government is committed towards ensuring it facilitates economic development and that it has constructed three mega markets in Chaka (Nyeri), Ngong (Kajiado) and Uhuru market (Kisumu).
The markets are fitted with storage facilities and modern ablutions.
(edited by Amol Awuor)