Despite some blots on his 10-year reign that is about to come to an end, I, and I think many other Kenyans, are proud of President Uhuru Kenyatta for many things.
One is improving national security. He reduced the activities of criminal gangs and boosted the operations of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) which has been key in fighting terrorism.
He boosted the education sector through the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school, increasing enrollment. He introduced comprehensive medical insurance for teachers and free medical cover for students, expanded school infrastructure such as classrooms and furniture and connected schools to electricity.
The President launched Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which aims to nurture learners’ potential. CBC chooses practical learning over theoretical and give opportunities for acquisition of values and participation in community services.
President Kenyatta has redefined the capital city’s image by construction of Nairobi Expressway. He upgraded many towns with highways and overpasses, street lights and “mulika mwizi” lighting. Market such as Karatina in Nyeri have been renovated.
He improved many hospitals by providing facilities such as cancer screening machines and making services widely affordable. Maternity services are free of charge through the Linda Mama programme.
Lastly, President Kenyatta has played a big role in developing the society by drilling boreholes in arid and semi-arid areas.
Jeremiah Mutisya, Nairobi
Some of the payments that are paid from the Presidential Special Fund made me raised my eyebrows in astonishment.
During President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure, the Auditor-General identified some unsupported payments from the fund going into Sh500 million. The explanation given by State House was that the amount was expended in buying motor vehicles.
That did not make sense to me because no vehicles bought were identified and, secondly, there is an allocation (vote) at both the Office of the President and State House for buying motor vehicles.
Can the National Treasury and Parliament tell us why Sh1.5 billion is allocated to the fund annually and what ought to be genuinely paid from the fund?
And this is too much, as all other expenditures at the OP and State House have been catered for in the main allocations.
During the Mwai Kibaki era, when Francis Muthaura was the head of the public service, the fund was said to have paid for the education of the President’s nephew and niece at Australian universities for four years each.
When the President is given such free money to play with,the temptation of getting into some financial ukora crops in.
