The Cabinet also approved regulations for non-deposit taking saccos aimed at protecting Kenyans against risks
Image: FILE
The Cabinet on Thursday extended the ban on logging by one year to address deforestation.
A meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House in Nairobi directed the Ministry of Environment to establish an inter-agency team to assess mature trees that are ready for harvesting.
The team should submit its report by April 2020.
The Cabinet meeting, which was attended by Deputy President William Ruto, also approved the National Cooperative Policy.
The policy establishes an institutional framework to enhance the coordination of cooperative societies.
It also seeks to deepen the deployment of ICT in the management of saccos and promote good corporate governance.
Also approved is the National Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Policy which is aimed at scaling up the management of menstrual hygiene.
The policy highlights MHM as a rights issue and brings it into the mainstream of the health and development agenda by considering the prevailing social, economic, cultural and demographic contexts of women and girls
The Cabinet also approved regulations for non-deposit taking saccos aimed at protecting Kenyans against risks.
The regulations will guard Kenyans against poor investment decisions, inadequate transparency and information disclosure, disregard for members' interests as well as self-preservation by officials of the saccos.
On health, the Cabinet approved the establishment of Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital and the designation of Gilgil Hospital as a satellite mental health facility of Mathari.
The President directed the Ministry of Health to establish a taskforce on the status of mental health in the country.
The team should come up with new policies to address the growing concerns about mental health among Kenyans.
The findings of the task force which will be discussed by the Cabinet within 90 days to assist in allocation of resources for mental health.
The Cabinet meeting also approved the piloting of the Engineered Base Stabiliser (EBS) roads in Nairobi.
EBS is a new road construction technology that is considered relatively cheaper compared to the conventional approaches.
The pilot will be carried out on low traffic volume access roads in Kibra and Dagoretti South constituencies and replicated in other areas if it proves successful.
On agriculture, the Cabinet approved Kenya’s membership to Africa Rice Centre (Africarice) and okayed the country's membership to the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
The meeting also approved a number of policies focused on boosting Kenya Youth Development Policy (KYDP) 2019 which seeks to mainstream issues affecting young people.
The new policy seeks to coordinate youth programmes to address unemployment, radicalisation, youth exclusion, cybercrime and trafficking in persons among other challenges facing young people.
The Cabinet also approved the Business Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019.
The amendments are aimed at improving business environment in the country to attract more investments and accelerate growth.
The amendments are projected to raise Kenya's ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index to position 50 by 2020.
edited by peter obuya