Uhuru commissions 'Africa's tallest building' in Hurlingham, launches recovery plan

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday launched the County Governments post-Covid-19 socioeconomic recovery strategy that will be implemented over a three year period.

The Sh132 billion recovery plan prioritizes agriculture, water and sanitization, urban development and housing, transport, tourism, health, education, social protection, and gender and youth as anchor sectors that will help Counties to recover from the effects of Covid-19.

The President also commissioned the construction of the 50-storey G47 Ugatuzi Tower at Hurlingham in Nairobi County.

The building, which is estimated to be the tallest on the continent, will be constructed through a partnership between the Council of Governors and the County Pension Fund (CPF).

Speaking to devolution stakeholders at the launch event, also attended by Deputy President William Ruto, the President said the close working relationship between Counties and the National Government has helped the country deal with the health crisis better.

He noted that one of the positive returns from the fight against Coronavirus in the country is the strengthening of relations between the two levels of Government saying, the collaborative framework should be cascaded to other frontiers of service delivery.

"Together we have expanded our physical healthcare infrastructure, installed new and more medical equipment, recruited additional healthcare workers, upskilled our health services labour force, and deployed a testing and contact-tracing system that has been a role-model for other African nations," the President said.

"Fellow Leaders, this is not a time for business as usual. The Strategic plans at both the County and National levels draw from limited resources, that have become even more diminished due to the socio-economic effects of the pandemic."

The Head of State pointed out that the strategy is expected to drive real growth and economic rebound in the Counties as the National Government rolls out similar initiatives aimed at reviving the economy.

He urged Governors to exercise financial prudence when implementing the strategy and called on oversight institutions to apply heightened vigilance to ensure funds are used appropriately.

"These limited resources must be utilized strictly for the purposes of elevating our nation. They must be used faithfully, and with the utmost of transparency and accountability," he said.

"If we waste this chance, we will certainly consign our motherland to many years of being mired in economic slowdown and social injustice."

At the same event, the President reminded foreign agencies not to interfere with the internal workings of the country saying they will not be tolerated.

Ruto said the construction of the G47 Ugatuzi Towers will help consolidate all state agencies in the devolution sector under one roof thereby enhancing their efficiency and efficacy.

"It will make it that much more easy for devolution to succeed. It will provide the paradigm shift that we have all been looking for, for the bottoms up approach to our development, than the old one of trickle down," he said.

Council of Governors Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said the financing of the Sh132 billion strategy will be largely be drawn from budgets of County Government over the next three financial years, supplemented by resources from development partners.

"It has been our desire to enhance coordination of county governments activities under one roof. Today marks the beginning of actualization to fulfil this desire by ground-breaking a magnificent devolution headquarters which will have 50 floors to accommodate council of governors offices, county satellite offices, county assemblies forum offices and the ministry of devolution and its related state agencies," Governor Oparanya said.