• He also inaugurated seven other ground-breaking projects that provide current and comprehensive geospatial data covering the entire country.
• He added that innovations generated from the exercise will fast-track the creation of jobs, diversification of revenue sources and industrial development in line with the Big 4 Agenda and Vision 2030.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday unveiled the final report of the nationwide airborne geophysical survey.
He also inaugurated seven other ground-breaking projects that provide current and comprehensive geospatial data covering the entire country.
The eight projects were developed under the Joint National and Resource Mapping (JNAM) team.
The team comprises of young Kenyan professionals under the supervision of a multi-agency from the security sector.
Speaking at the State House, when he launched the Joint National Mapping Projects, Uhuru expressed optimism in that the projects will help in the National development landscape.
“As stewards entrusted with our natural resources, for the first time in our nation's history we have painstakingly pieced together an inventory of Kenya’s natural resources," he said.
He added that innovations generated from the exercise will fast-track the creation of jobs, diversification of revenue sources and industrial development in line with the Big 4 Agenda and Vision 2030.
Uhuru commended the young Kenyan professionals who worked jointly under the multi-agency JNAM team to make the projects a reality.
“Your efforts have made Kenya the first African country to conduct such an extensive survey without tapping into foreign expertise,” he said.
The President said, through the projects, the JNAM team mapped out a wide range of resources including base metals, coal, gemstones, geothermal spots, forest cover, water bodies, precious metals and rare earth elements.
He pointed out that the output maps have already helped the Ministry of Education in mapping out schools countrywide.
The Ministry of Roads has also been assisted in the identification of road reserves while the Kenya Forestry services have been able to map out forest cover and identify encroached areas.
Under the JNAM multi-agency project, Uhuru said the team also successfully developed a current cadaster for Nairobi which has helped in the identification and securing of public lands such as green spaces, health facilities, schools, and roads and road reserves.
“Overall, with the updated data sets generated as part of this survey; the national and county governments, the private sector, learning institutions and other stakeholders are now better positioned to plan and implement their development programmes,” he said.
Uhuru also thanked the team for developing several online applications such as the Taifa Pay, which is used to centrally collect most State revenues within Nairobi, which has increased transparency and accountability in government and private dealings.
He said the team also developed the ArdhiSasa digital platform, a land management system that improved the speed of land transactions.
“Where once it took a minimum of six months to do a single land transaction, this has now been reduced to 48 hours using Ardhi-Sasa. Similarly, instead of taking between one and three months to do a land search, this system will give you land search results in three to five minutes,” Uhuru added.
He urged all Kenyans to embrace the ArdhiSasa system that has established a transparent, affordable and efficient Land Information Management System.
The JNAM team has also developed the Kenya National Spatial Data Infrastructure for spatial discovery, evaluation and application within all levels of Government, commercial sectors, non-profitable sectors, academia and the citizens in general.
Further, it developed an Online mining cadastre to improve mining dealership and rights processes, which will greatly boost revenue collection within the mining sector.
“For a very long time, our land has been exploited by individuals who say they are taking the soil to their labs. With this innovation, we will be able to know what is being mined and by who."
The Head of State also urged county governments to embrace the innovations, saying the new project will transform the country by improving transparency and eliminating corruption.
ICT CS Joe Mucheru noted that the skills used to formulate the unique innovations were a clear testimony that Kenya is a leader in technology.
“They (the young professionals) have done us proud and delivered to you beyond our expectations. These energetic sleepless young Kenyans have delivered assets that will last a lifetime and they did so in record time without compromising or complaining,” Mucheru said.
The CS thanked Uhuru for trusting the team to deliver on one of the most treasured projects that will go a long way in transforming service delivery in the country.