The Jubilee administration won a second term in office swearing to make good on among other promises, salvaging an economy saddled with deep recession and unaffordable spending. Well, barely two years after the commencement of their second term in office, most of what was to be achieved seems to be heading in a dangerous opposite direction. Is there hope for this?
Not delivering on the promises made should not really be an option; it is, as a matter of fact, an obligation. The administration came to power with medium term objectives that would have seen an overall improvement in the manufacturing sector, Universal Healthcare, Affordable housing and Food Security in what is famously dubbed The Big Four Agenda. On these, the future seems so bleak rather than luminous.
The Sh400 billion allocated to the Big Four Agenda should be put to correct use and the result of it all be seen. Every last cent of that money should be put to use and all the result be brought to table. This should not be another ploy to rob the taxpayer.
Food and nutrition has been allocated a staggering Sh20.5 billion and while cases of corruption within the Agriculture Sector seem to be unending, this, by any standards, seems way off limit. We want to see how the money is put to use and the results henceforth and not the nonsense of near misses or 'almost there.'
The annual production of Sh40 million bags is set to be taken to 67 million bags by 2022. It was a promise made and Kenyans are not to be lied to, the results have to come on table before the expiry of that period.
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The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has been the epitome of many corruption scandals ever since the colonial times and Jubilee should perhaps do better to avert the recurrence of such an unfortunate state of affairs. Graft has very nearly been the characteristic of the Jubilee administration with major scandals.
If we are to talk of food security and the revitalisation of the agricultural sector, there is no way that will be achieved while running on the same lane with corruption.
No form of development can survive where corruption is endemic.
The Government has to scrutinise most of its governance strategies to help root out corruption and give the people an identity. It is a bad characteristic and the top most officials in the Government are very much comfortable with impunity.
This has to, definitely, stop. The housing sector, another of the Big 4 agenda is supposed to provide about 350,000 jobs. It has in fact been the only one with considerable development with projects sprouting up in major towns and cities as in the building of the close to 10,000 affordable houses.
The same has to be replicated everywhere. The citizenry has to be in good health to ensure that they are engaging in development and economic related activities. For this to be possible, the Government has to do all that there is to ensure the Universal Healthcare is rolled out to even the remote parts of the country.
Failure to do so will be taken for a lie and misleading the people to gain a following, which is, according to the Constitution, wrong. Ever since the programme was first launched in Kisumu, progress has always been extremely slow with subtle signs of the same happening elsewhere.
Health spending is projected to be at Sh73 billion in 2022 from the current Sh61 billion.
It seems a good deal but the Government should not lull us into a false sense of security and rob us from behind the scenes. All that is being done has to be brought forward for scrutiny.