Kenya's President Kenyatta ends duty

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - President Uhuru Kenyatta has ended his two-term era as the Head of State and Government in Kenya, to usher in a new era led by his ally-turned foe, William Ruto.

President Kenyatta, who has been lukewarm since the election results were pronounced on 15 August, pledged to ensure a smooth transition.

He followed on his pledge by conducting the incoming President to a tour of State House on Monday.

Kenyatta congratulated President William Ruto for receiving the mandate of Kenyans to lead as the Fifth President.

"Since independence, we have every five years, without fail, reaffirmed our democratic credentials. We have done so by returning to the people, the sovereign of our nation, for a mandate to serve. We have in this context put our nation on consistent and predictable journey of deepening and maturing our democracy," President Kenyatta said on Monday.

He said he was looking forward to Tuesday's ceremonial handover of power to "emulate that honoured tradition" and hand over the mantle to his successor.

President Kenyatta said he was grateful for the honour and privilege to serve as the Fourth President of Kenya.

Kenyatta said the work of building a nation is a continuous endeavor passed from one generation to another, as one Administration hands over to the next, in an unbroken chain that seeks to progressively build a more united, equitable, and prosperous Kenya.

"I hand-over leadership of a nation that has undergone consequential transformation over the last decade in every aspect of our national life," Kenyatta said.

He said his administration fostered and integrated devolution as a way of life; reinforced educational and technical excellence and successfully led the nation through the worst global health crisis in a century.

"We also turned a number of challenges we inherited and those that emerged during our tenure into areas of opportunity for a better Kenya," Kenyatta said in his concluding speech.

President Kenyatta won power from the hands of President Mwai Kibaki, who passed on this year.

In an unbroken chain, Kenyatta said both leaders have built on President Daniel Arap Moi’s love for education that was further built upon as free primary education by President Kibaki.

The government also institutionalised free secondary education, heralding 100% transition from primary to secondary education.

To further enhance the competitiveness of Kenya's workforce, the state placed the nation on a pathway to Competency Based Curriculum (CBC); which institutionalises a system that nurtures creativity and innovativeness.

Kenyatta said his administration was aware that insecurity could break the chain of national development and deter the realisation of national prosperity, the state built on the work done by previous administrations and created a much improved security environment.

President Kenyatta's administration stopped the wave of terror attacks that had placed a stranglehold on Kenya, he reduced crime rates and secured significant progress in addressing livestock theft, trade in illicit firearms, and other longstanding security challenges.

Those achievements were attained through the retooling of the security organs and making them more capable to address the dynamic contemporary security challenges that Kenya faced.

Through devolution, government is much closer to the people, with 2.5 trillion Kenya Shillings transferred by the National Government to the Counties from 2013 to 2022.

Kenyatta worked for greater economic integration within the East Africa region, and led the push to admit the Democratic Republic of Congo into the East African Community.

With this singular move, the EAC common market grew by 90 million people, yielding an expanded market of 300 million persons and the consequent enhanced opportunities for Kenyan enterprises.

Building on the place of pride earned by our forefathers in the clamour for independence, on the global stage, Kenya fortified its global footprint.

He said Kenya's non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council, has amplified its voice on international peace and security matters.

This has enhanced opportunities for Kenyans in both the diaspora and also within the international civil service.

As a consequence, diaspora remittances have increased tenfold over the last decade, and they now stand at an all-time high at over Ksh. 400 billion per annum as of 2021, surpassing some of our traditional exports as foreign exchange earner.

Kenya also built on the aspiration of the independence generation to foster inclusivity and gender parity.

We have enhanced the pioneering spirit of the Second Administration that elevated women leadership.

And in an unbroken chain built on the progress made under the Third Administration, Kenyatta said he expanded women’s participation in governance and significantly increased the number of women in the Cabinet and in the senior ranks of Government and in our security organs.

At least 11,500 kilometres of newly tarmacked roads under thr Kenyatta administration was achieved.

This was a doubling in the length of roads constructed from the dawn of the republic to 2013.

Typified by the iconic Nairobi Expressway, Kenyatta said his Administration has upgraded Kenya’s infrastructure in terms of roads, ports, floating bridges, fibre optics and power generation and transmission.

As a result, Kenya now stands out as an investment destination of choice, and a continental and global hub.

Kenyatta said his administration also transformed the way the government services reach the citizens.

This was done through the introduction of Huduma Centres and the eCitizen online platform, which together have made access to public services a fast and pleasant experience and not the toil that every citizen had to endure in the past to obtain basic services.

As a digital government, Kenya successfully transitioned from analogue to digital television and radio, resulting in the country being home to 130 TV stations, up from 14 in 2013; and 204 radio stations up from 130 in 2013.

"These impressive figures do not factor in the massive expansion of the digital space that has seen many hundreds of thousands of Kenyans successfully monetise various digital communication avenues," Kenyatta said.

In addition to the immeasurable pride in having the magical tag of “Made in Kenya” affixed to a wider range of products, the Administration reinvigorated domestic manufacturing and diversified exports of finished products.

"Building on the baton received from my predecessor, President Kibaki, in unbroken chain we have moved Kenya from being the 12th largest economy in Africa to its current position as Africa’s 6th largest economy.

Kenya almost tripled the wealth of the nation from a GDP of Ksh 4.5 trillion in 2013, to close to Ksh 13 trillion currently.

Consequently, the income per capita also rose sharply from Ksh. 127,065 per person in 2013 to Ksh. 245,045 per person in 2021.

This saw Kenya graduate from a low-income country to a lower middle-income country.

He said his Administration connected more than 13 million Kenyans to clean water and registered a 400% growth in the number of Kenyans insured under National Health Insurance Fund NHIF – with 17.1 million Kenyans currently insured compared to 4.4 million insured as at April, 2013.

"In all the work I have done as President, in every presidential decision I have made, in every executive action I have taken, in every bill I have proposed and assented to, I have been guided by the dream of our forefathers - to eliminate poverty, ignorance and disease, to improve the quality of life of all Kenyans and to create conditions for everyone to achieve their dreams," he said.

-0- PANA AO/MA 13Sept2022