The Government will release the Annual Progress Report (APR) on the implementation of the First Medium Term Plan of the Kenya Vision 2030 by end of this month.
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 Permanent Secretary Dr. Edward Sambili said the report will detail government’s performance in terms of successes and shortcomings over the last one year in delivery and implementation of flagship projects.
Speaking on the state owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) television at a breakfast show, the PS assured Kenyans that the country was on course to realizing its aspirations as outlined in the economic blue print the Kenya Vision 2030.
"People are still very much determined and you can see that determination. What we only need is to release that energy in work and surely achievement will be a guarantee," said Dr. Sambili.
He noted that though the country’s economic growth had drastically dropped in 2008 to 1.7 per cent, currently it was steadily improving with this year’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projected to reach 5.4 per cent.
The PS singled out the new constitution as one of the main achievements of the Vision 2030 terming it as one of the key deliverables as spelt by the political pillar.
"The new constitution is crucial because it allows the kind of flexibility and environment that will make it possible for Kenyans to realize their aspirations," said he.
Sambili said his Ministry was now focusing its attention on counties in line with the new constitution "and using stakeholders to identify what people in specific areas really need and work out an implementation plan."
"We are going to move very fast so that the Vision 2030 can now be implemented at county level," he added.
To expedite the process, he announced that the Ministry has this year hired enough economists and trained them before they can be distributed in the 47 counties to offer the needed expertise.
Asked to comment on challenges affecting the realization of the Vision 2030, the PS said Kenyans were getting impatient following delays and yet planning requires a lot of time.
"It takes time to plan and ensure everything is in place and this ends up frustrating Mwananchi. For example we partnered with Singapore to do some of these projects like the Special Economic Zones," he said.
Other challenges according to the PS include capacity and financing. On the former, he noted that to get engineers and other experts was a daunting task as they were tied elsewhere while the latter was hampered as a result of world economy and financial crisis which make investors shy hence compromise the anticipated public private partnership.
At the same time, Dr. Sambili defended the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty saying the fund has achieved a lot citing the example of public schools upgrading their classrooms to standard status.
The fund is flexible as people at grassroots are the ones who decide on what to do with the allocated amounts, said the PS.
To ensure those managing the funds are competent, he said the necessary capacity building has been offered to them together with a manual prepared by the CDF management board distributed in all the constituencies.
However, he admitted that there have been few cases of fraud surrounding CDF and appropriate legal action taken against the suspects.
Ends……………
Regards,
Dave Jones Buchere
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030
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