Government and Policy

A Government That Never Keeps Promises: tearing down Jubilee’s Unending Promises

BY Soko Directory Team · February 14, 2019 12:02 am

The Jubilee government’s slogan, when it was ascending to power after a controversial election was kusema na kutenda (Saying it and doing it).

As soon as the duo landed into the big office, the slogan changed to kusema na kutenga with the Deputy President William Ruto leading the master choir then.

The slogan did not stop at kusema na kutenga, it metamorphosed to kusema na kusema na kusahau and ever since, Kenyans have been treated with a theoretical series of promises that clearly will never be realized.

The Jubilee government seems to have mastered the art of “promising”, giving hope to the hopeless, make them see you as the only savior of their heaven and earth, and then disappear.

The Jubilee government has become like a religion. One that is the opium of the masses, the exploiter of the impoverished and the sustainer of the status quo.

We have looked at some of the Jubilee’s promises that were only fulfilled in the minds and mouths of those who promised them.

Where are the Jobs?

The unemployment rate in Kenya is said to be at 39.1 percent. Although there are no official figures quoting the exact unemployment rate, the reality on the ground puts them higher than the commonly quoted rate.

When the Jubilee government came to power, they promised to create 1.3 million jobs every year. To make this possible, they promised to work closely with county governors to establish at least one industry in every county.

The promise for jobs ended as soon as the meeting for making the promises was over. Now, the unemployment rate among youth is higher than ever before. Thousands of young people are joining the job seeking market each year with literally no job to accommodate them.

They came up with the empowering of young people through the National Youth Service which was just a blanket to cover the hungry and greedy looters who looted billions of shillings from the organization.

They tried to come up with the Youth Fund with all the funds going into the pockets of corrupt officials with some of them branded heroes after their death.

State of Unemployment Rates in African Countries

Kenya’s Unemployment Rate Hits 39.1 Percent

Where is the support for SME?

The SME sector is key to Kenya’s economic growth. The sector employs 86 percent of Kenyans and contributes to 46 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Jubilee government promised that it would enhance the working environment for the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through lowering of taxes, giving them loans as well as funding.

Stats show that at least 400,000 SMEs are dying annually in Kenya with the government doing absolutely nothing to help them out. If anything, the Jubilee government just made things for the SMEs worse. This government has introduced numerous taxes that are choking the sector to death.

The introduction and implementation of the presumptive tax, that is, 15 percent on top of the normal rates for licenses and permits hit hard on the SME sector. Other taxes such as VAT on fuel, on the SMEs income, have left the sector with no room to breathe.

Where is the Fight against Corruption?

The current government has been voted the most corrupt regime in the history of Kenya. In other words, there has never been a government that is more vicious in looting public resources than this one.

Despite the promise by Jubilee that they will be on the forefront in terms of fighting corruptions, they have ended up being the chief priests, king, and queens foreseeing the plunder of a nation. Stats show that Kenya’s economy loses at least one trillion shillings every year to corruption. That is more than a third of the country’s budget.

Stats show that at least 5.3 trillion shillings have been looted under the watch of the Jubilee administration since 2013. Basically, 2 years of the national budget have gone into the pockets of individuals.

This government seems to be one of the friendliest to the corrupt. From the National Youth Service I to National Youth Service II to the Kenya Pipeline Corporation to the Kenya Irrigation Board. Name them. The looting is on another level.

The looting in the counties is out of this world. Governors are now the small gods, stealing and looting from the poor and then force them to worship them for leftovers.

Kenya, a Den of the Corrupt & Haven for Corruption Deals

Kenya Still Among Most Corrupt Despite Increased Efforts to Fight Graft – Global Corruption Index

Where are the Laptops?

Who remembers the hype about the Jubilee government giving every standard one pupil a laptop? Those who were in standard one when the promise was being made are now in standard seven. Sad still, some chose to repeat with the hope of getting a feel of the much-publicized laptop. It never came.

To add salt to an injury, the Ministry of ICT cannot account for more than 16 billion shillings that were meant for the digital literacy program.

Where are the stadiums?

On Sports, the Arts and Culture, Jubilee had promised to establish a National Lottery Scheme, boosted by national Budget allocations to fund and support the professionalization of local sporting leagues across the major disciplines.

Apart from pledging to pursue tax incentives for individual and private sector investors in the Sports, Arts and Entertainment sectors, Uhuru and Ruto also promised to facilitate the professionalization of sports through the introduction of professional coaches in schools.

They also promised an establishment of youth development centers in all the counties that would house a fully equipped library, an ICT hub, five sports pitches (football, swimming, basketball, netball, and volleyball) and a social hall as well.

They promised that they would construct five new national sports stadia in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, and Garissa while upgrading existing sporting facilities at the county level to accommodate swimming, tennis, basketball, and rugby.

Where are they?

Where is Universal Health?

Some Kenyans have been celebrating that the Jubilee government has finally rolled out the much-awaited Universal Health. Which universal health? What is universal health without medicine? What is universal health without enough doctors? What is universal health with nurses on strike? What is universal health if the majority cannot afford it? What is universal health where only the rich can manage their cancer and the poor condemned to die?

Have the youth and women been empowered?

The Jubilee government had promised to ensure that 30 percent of all appointees to public bodies and parastatals are women and to actively promote the appointment of young people, the disabled and marginalized groups to public positions. But the available information paints a different picture.

Government appointments went to political rejects and when they were given to young people they went to well-connected individuals. A good scenario is when retired Vice president Moody Awori was appointed as a board member for the Sports, Art and Social Development Fund.

Apparently, according to the President, the youth are thieves.

Bottom Line

This is a government of promises. They have now come up with the Big 4 Agenda. They have promised to construct at least 500,000 housing units for Kenyans. We all know this will never happen and if it will, we know those who will benefit. It will never be us.

About Soko Directory Team

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory