4. A food secure Kenya
We will ensure that our Agricultural sector can produce food in excess of the needs of our country by encouraging mechanization, irrigation, reviving cooperatives and farmer unions and subsidy for inputs. In addition, we will encourage value addition in the production chain and develop suitable marketing support mechanisms for our farmers.
There has been a mixed bag in this area. In their campaigns, President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have played up the action taken to reduce the cost of maize flour after the hike in prices following a shortage. They however acknowledge that the production needs to increase to make the cheaper flour available in all parts of the country. The food crisis however highlighted the fact that the Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme has not worked as originally planned. The Auditor-General reported after an audit that often, the subsidised fertiliser arrives in the farms after the planting season. There has not been an evident effort to revive cooperatives. On the positive, there has been an effort to prop up the ailing Mumias Sugar Company while MPs recommended the sale of government-owned sugar factories that were not making a turnaround despite the billions pumped in by the government.
5. Social justice
We will ensure that the rights of all Kenyans are preserved through good governance, democracy, and respect for the rule of law and social protection and welfare for the disadvantaged.
On the campaign trail, President Kenyatta has talked of the benefits from the programme where selected elderly persons over the age of 70 are given a monthly stipend of Sh1,500. Treasury Cabinet Secretary already announced that this programme will be expanded to cover everybody above 70 from January next year. The government has been criticized for arrests of journalists and attempts to restrict the work of civil society groups.
6. A healthy Kenya
We will ensure that all Kenyans have access to well equipped health facilities and well trained and motivated health care workers, in addition to developing systems to support health care and sanitation.
The bulk of healthcare provision was devolved and all that the national government handles are four national referral hospitals. Funding for Level Five hospitals is given to counties as conditional allocations. One of the positives for the national government was the Medical Equipment Services programme, through which 94 hospitals across the country are to get equipment for Intensive Care Units, theatres, dialysis and cancer diagnosis. Not all the hospitals have received all the equipment but there has been a positive impact in the area of treatment of kidney issues. But while the provision of equipment has been good, the workers say they are neglected. It was during this administration that doctors went on a 100-day strike, nurses are still on strike and clinical officers are threatening to go on strike.
7. Water and electricity for all
We will ensure that every Kenyan has access to clean water and sustainable supply of electricity by developing necessary policies to encourage investment in infrastructure for water and electricity provision.
Access to electricity has certainly improved, with the government saying on delivery.go.ke that the number of households with electricity has gone from 2.3 million in 2013 to 5.95 million now. Water and sewerage provision is a devolved function. Still, there is a perennial shortage of water in the capital city, Nairobi. The construction of a tunnel to collect water from other rivers and help increase the stock in Ndakaini Dam, where Nairobi gets most of its water, is on course after running into political headwinds.