Kibaki pledges to pump more cash in war on poverty

Kenya will allocate more tax money to fund programmes that uplift the living standards of citizens and accelerate the attainment of Millennium Development Goals, President Kibaki said on Sunday.

President Kibaki noted that the country’s new Constitution and the national development blueprint, Vision 2030, would provide more resources to the grassroots in line with the targets of MDGs.

Speaking during the Heads of State consultative forum on MDGs in Kigali, Rwanda, President Kibaki said that the government would channel 15 per cent of its budget to counties.

This would act as a major boost towards the attainment of the goals. The Head of State noted that Kenya had put in place the necessary policy and institutional framework for the achievement of MDGs.

The President said: “Key among them was the Cabinet directive in March, 2005, requiring all ministries to mainstream their specific policies, plans, budgets and operations by placing MDGs at the epicentre of the country’s development process.”

During the occasion, President Kibaki reiterated the need for African leaders to speak with one voice and reach a common stand, particularly with regard to calls for the developed world to honour pledges made in Scotland so as to accelerate the achievement of MDGs.

He noted that Kenya supported calls for developed nations to honour the allocation of at least 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Income as Official Development Assistance for financing MDGs in developing nations.

The Head of State said: “Additional commitments on development assistance made at the G-9 Scotland Meeting of 2005 should be fast- tracked in order to make available the necessary resources to finance MDGs projects in developing countries.”

President Kibaki commended the Government of Rwanda for setting a model on gender parity and urged other nations to emulate the example.

He said Kenya had a fair share of successes, especially with the implementation of the Universal Primary Education and was keen to share its experience with other countries.

“Kenya, like Rwanda and other African countries, has committed considerable resources and put in place the necessary institutional and policy frameworks in an endeavour to ensure the realisation of the MDGs,” said the Head of State.

President Kibaki said: “Despite these achievements, there is a realisation that a large number of African and South-Asian countries may be unable to attain the MDGs targets by 2015, especially in relation to elimination of extreme poverty. In addition, the reduction of child mortality rates and improvement of maternal health are still matters of great concern.”