President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated that a great infrastructure network is a key enabler of economic growth defending his Government’s infrastructure drive in his last term.
Kenyatta assured Kenyans that they would feel the impact of the investment in infrastructure once the country started to reap economic growth.
“As Kenyans, we often dwell on the what and the how without asking ourselves “why”. And so, I answer, why has My Administration invested so heavily in infrastructure?
We have done all this because they are interrelated aspects of our national life that are tied together by a singular golden thread; areas of challenges that can become the engines that drive Kenya into a more productive nation,” said Uhuru.
Kenyatta defended the enormous investment in infrastructure, which has been a topic of discussion by his critics in the recent past.
Last week, on tour to the coast, Kenyatta’s deputy, in an attempt to woo votes from the coast region basket, said top on his in-tray was to scrap off projects under the jubilee government, such as the standard gauge railway.
A majority of the projects were started as a ploy to steal money from government coffers.
“The naysayers said that we should not invest so heavily in infrastructure. Because people don’t eat roads and floating bridges. I refused their pessimism because I know what a new road means to the farmer who has for decades been unable to get their produce quickly to the market,” said Uhuru Kenyatta
“Years later, what was called the ‘Lunatic Express’ by cynics converted a swamp called Nairobi into a mega-city that is in the top five in Africa. It opened up an entire hinterland corridor running from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to Banana on the Atlantic Ocean in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The railway had transformed the East African landscape, opening up new frontiers of trade, commerce and urbanization,” he further noted.
Kenyatta quantified the roads built under his leadership to be more than the previous administrations built. But recognized that his predecessor left him big shoes to fill.
“If the nation’s Third Administration had set the bar high, we have set the bar even higher. And the record is there for all to see. Across all eight former provinces, in each of the 47 counties, we have transformed Kenya a kilometre at a time,” said Kenyatta.
He said his plan to give Kenyans world-class infrastructure, from iconic elevated expressways to floating bridges, has put Kenya on the global map.
The Head of State was criticizing his deputy for not taking part in the handshake that brought stability to the country.
“During the first term, for instance, we built slightly over 3,000 Km of tarmac roads. But in the second term, we have completed close to 8,000 Kms, and over 6,600 km of tarmac roads are currently ongoing. And all this happened because of the political stability achieved through and because of the handshake,” said Kenyatta.
Kenyatta wished Kenyans would understand the benefits of the key government infrastructure projects.