Jubilee govt to deliver on youth agenda, Uhuru

By PPS
Posted  Monday, April 15  2013 at  14:16

President Uhuru Kenyatta has reassured that his Jubilee Coalition will deliver on promises it made on the campaign trail on youth empowerment and improving the lives of the urban poor.

Accordingly, Government procurement procedures will be amended to allow young men and women to supply 30% of all Government contracts.

“We will build on this by developing Public Private Partnerships that partner young men and women and local authorities in the Government’s provision of basic services such as clean water and sanitation, roads maintenance, energy and waste management,” President Kenyatta said.

In addition, the Biashara Kenya program will be launched to provide young men and women with access to financing for entrepreneurial ventures.

“This will go a long way to further leverage women and youth participation in our economic activities,” President Kenyatta said.

He made the remarks while addressing the 24th Session of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat at Gigiri on Monday.

He said his Government will place the young people at the heart of its national drive for development by tackling unemployment and underemployment.

The Jubilee government will also expand entrepreneurship opportunities through provision of affordable loans.

The President said he is focused on achieving a 7 to10 per cent economic growth rate within the next two years.

“To achieve this, we will focus on substantively improving the environment for growth in manufacturing and agricultural production through equitable access to land,” said Mr Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta said his Government will extend security of tenure to inhabitants of informal settlements to enable them leverage their land commercially to improve the lives of an estimated 5.4 million people living and working in slums and informal settlements.

“The Kibera slum, for example, sits on 630 acres of land with a current market value of 63 billion Kenya Shillings or 765 million US Dollars. By giving tenure to the people living in Kibera, my Government will enable them to commercialize their land,” President Kenyatta said.

Additionally, the Head of State said his Government will continue to support the inclusion of urbanization as a key part of the post-2015 global development agenda that should transformatively address the main challenges and opportunities faced by cities and towns in the 21st Century.

Said President Kenyatta, “We should find better ways to manage our rural environments in order to stem disruptive migratory flows to big cities. We want an agenda that focuses on small villages as much as it does on mega-cities and balances the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development.”

He commended the decision to upgrade UNEP into universal membership and elevate its status to the world’s leading global environmental organization.

He said this will enhance the organization’s stature, broaden its reach and increase its ability to meet the sustainable development challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

President Kenyatta assured the UN organizations that his Government will provide all the support needed to enable them to perform their mandate more effectively.

“I assure you of our full commitment to supporting the work of the United Nations and our desire to maintain Nairobi’s position as the central hub of the United Nations system in the developing world,” President Kenyatta said.

He added: “My Government will abide by the rules of international co-operation and will act as a champion of the principle of sovereign equality amongst all members, in the expectation that this will be reciprocated.”

Others who spoke during the occasion included the Minister of Infrastructure who is also the President of the UN-Habitat Governing Council, Mr. Albert Nsengiyumva.

In attendance were Head of the Public Service and the Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia, the UNEP Executive Director Mr. Achim Steiner and Nairobi County Governor Dr . Evans Kidero among others.