By ROBERT NYASATO

The Kenya@50 Secretariat has identified eight flagship projects to celebrate the country’s Golden Jubilee next month.

The eight, dubbed Legacy Projects, will be hallmarks of the celebrations to be launched on December 11 by President Uhuru Kenyatta and will run for one year.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Arts Hassan Wario said the Government had set aside Sh500 million for the celebrations while the secretariat had fundraised a further Sh2.6 billion from the corporate world.

Wario, who is also the secretariat chairman, said the Legacy Projects involve restoration of Uhuru Gardens, Kenya’s largest public memorial park where founding President Jomo Kenyatta hoisted the first Kenyan flag on December 12, 1963. He said the park would be rehabilitated to its former glory as Kenya’s birthplace.

The second project involves renovating and equipping Kenyatta National Hospital’s Paediatric Wing. The hospital is the oldest referral health facility in East and Central Africa.

Mathari Mental

The secretariat also plans to refurbish and equip Mathari Mental Hospital, the country’s only public psychiatric facility.

In addition, the secretariat plans to plant 50 million trees in the next one year as part of the celebrations. The country needs 384 million tree seedlings annually to meet the United Nations requirement of forest cover.

Other flagship projects are rehabilitation of the Kenya National Theatre, the country’s largest national stage started in 1962, and establishment of a Kenya@50 Scholarship Fund in partnership with devolved governments to benefit an initial 50 needy students from across the country.

The last two projects are establishment of a Kenya@50 Entrepreneurial Fund to provide capital to an initial 50 small-scale business owners and the lauch of Vision 2030’s medium-term programmes.

Wario, who was accompanied by Secretariat Executive Director Saima Ondimu and Nairobi Deputy Police chief Moses Ombati, said President Kenyatta would hoist the flag at midnight of December 11 at the historical gardens, following in the footsteps of his late father.

He said the park would be closed from today to facilitate the renovations. It will be accessible to the public on December 11.

Ombati said adequate security measures had been put in place to ensure success of the celebrations. He said a temporary police post had been opened at the park to monitor activities around the venue ahead of the celebrations.