Jubilee has done exceptionally well in all sectors

The Saturday Nation editorial of January 2, 2016, was a tirade of gloom. The writer avers “2015 was a bad year for Kenya” and that “all the pillars of our nationhood (the presidency, economy, security and the people) were tested and found wanting”.

This cannot carry any weight with Kenyans who have seen the enormous strides the Jubilee government has made in all sectors.

This government is on track to achieve what no other government in Kenya’s history has ever done. The economy added 742,000 jobs in 2013 and 799,000 jobs in 2014.

It has reduced the cost of energy by over 30 per cent. It has refurbished the port of Mombasa, cutting cargo transit times by 90 per cent. It is opening new industrial parks in Naivasha and Mombasa and building a railway to make it even easier to move goods and services across East Africa.

NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS

The President has declared corruption a national security crisis. The private sector is a key partner in launching innovative ideas to prosecute the war on corruption.

Five Cabinet secretaries and several principal secretaries were removed from office in 2015. Over 300 cases have been lodged in court to try a similar number of people.

A reform of government procurement is under way to reduce the opportunities for corruption.

Kenya is one of the world’s best improved economies in the ease of doing business.

The multiple-award-winning Huduma Centres have cut bureaucracy and red tape, making Kenya an attractive global destination for investors and entrepreneurs.

Our economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. Security is a key pillar of economic growth and the government has taken concrete steps to eliminate the threat of terrorism.

Our disciplined forces have the equipment needed to tackle groups such as Al-Shabaab, which are on the retreat and declining.

Tourism is recovering, a direct result of the vastly improved security situation. Even the usually more cynical foreign press have noticed progress in many facets. A few days ago, the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper wrote about our tourism industry under the headline, “Kenya’s spectacular return to form”.

The government is investing over Sh45 billion to revive and modernise our ailing sugar sector.

SUBSIDISED FERTILISER

Farmers are receiving subsidised fertiliser to help boost production of key commodities such as maize, tea and coffee. Jubilee has created youth and women’s funds for entrepreneurship.

Thirty per cent of government procurement is reserved for these two very important demographics in order to stimulate sustainable economic growth.

The Jubilee government has delivered on its manifesto promise to allocate at least 30 per cent of all funds to the county governments, much more than the 15 per cent set in the Constitution.

Through the Sh38 billion managed healthcare system, mwananchi now has access to decent and affordable healthcare because every county has a renal and cancer unit and vital X-ray equipment. CNN spoke glowingly of this project to upgrade 98 hospitals in 47 counties by supplying hi-tech equipment previously unavailable to most Kenyans.

Free maternity services have been the norm for over two years now. Maternal and infant mortality rates are falling every day.

Over one million title deeds have been issued in only two years. Kenyans can now utilise their land as a factor of production, to obtain vital credit, and plan how to improve their welfare.

The expanded NYS programme has reached all areas of the country and our youth are getting skills in construction, community development, saving, and entrepreneurship. The President has dealt with the challenges that faced the NYS programme.

President Kenyatta is the hardest working chief executive our country has ever had. He has secured improved trade and diplomatic agreements within the East African region, with South Africa, Nigeria, the US, and many European nations, to the tune of over Sh1 trillion in benefits to our economy.

Our global image and status as a nation has been boosted by the visits of the US President, the Italian Prime Minister, the Pope, and even a successful major conference of the World Trade Organisation.

President Kenyatta and his administration are well on course to achieving the goals set out in the Jubilee manifesto. The people can see and feel the difference.

The writer is a Jubilee MP and chairman of the National Assembly committee on communication