Ruto Pledges to Build 250,000 New Affordable Houses Annually as He Unveils Kenya Kwanza Manifesto

Deputy President William Ruto on Thursday evening unveiled the Kenya Kwanza Alliance manifesto which is anchored on the bottom-up economic model.

Speaking during the launch of the manifesto at Kasarani Sports Complex, Ruto pointed out that the bottom-up economic model will be geared towards bringing down the cost of living, eradicating hunger, creating jobs, expanding the tax base, and improving the country’s foreign exchange balance, and inclusive growth.

To achieve these, the UDA Party presidential candidate came up with six core pillars namely; Agriculture; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) economy; Housing and Settlement; Healthcare; Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy; and Environment and Climate Change.

Ruto pledged that, if he is elected president in the August 9th elections, the Kenya Kwanza administration will allocate Sh250 billion between 2023 and 2027 to the agriculture sector which he described as the backbone of Kenya’s economy.

Below is a summary of Ruto’s key pledges.

1.    Agriculture & Food Security

The Kenya Kwanza administration will invest at least Sh250 billion in the agriculture sector in five years effective 2023, transform two million poor farmers from food-deficit to surplus producers, and raise the productivity of key-value food chains and cutting basic food imports by 30 percent.

2.    Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)

Ruto said his government will set aside Sh50b annually to provide MSMEs with reliable access to credit, provide one street trading premises for every 50 urban residents, increase the daily income of informal traders by Sh200, and establish a MSME Business Development Centre in every ward.

3.    Housing and Settlement

The Kenya Kwaza administration promises to build 250,000 new affordable houses every year through a public-private partnership, grow the number of mortgages to one million, set up a Settlement Fund to acquire land, and resettle up to one million landless families.

4.    Health Care

Ruto said his government will provide fully publicly financed primary healthcare, establish a National Fund for chronic illnesses, make NHIF the primary cover, establish new level 6 hospitals in six new sites, and hire an initial 20,000 health care workers.

5.    ICT & Creative Economy

The Kenya Kwanza administration commits to construct a 100,000-kilometer fiber optic connectivity network, roll out fiber to counties, villages, schools, over 24,000 businesses and homes, and establish Africa Regional Hub and promote the development of Software for export.

6.    Infrastructure

Under infrastructure, Ruto says his administration will complete all roads under construction, and construct 700km road along the Isiolo-Kula, Mawe-Modogashe-Samatar-Wajir-Kutulo-Elwak-Ramu corridor.
7.    Education

Ruto pledges to pay for in-service teacher training, bridge current teacher shortage gap by hiring 116,000 teachers within two financial years, review the current exam-based system of academic progression and introduce alternative entry criteria, merge HELB, TVET and University Funding Board under a National Skill & Funding Council, set up a National Open University and implement 100 percent transition to higher education, increase funding to research and development institutions from 0.8 per cent to 2 percent of GDP, and double the amount of money allocated to the school feeding programme.

8.    Gender

The Kenya Kwanza administration says it will implement the two-thirds gender rule in elective and appointive positions in public sector within 12 months, allocate 50 percent of cabinet positions to women, ensure 100 percent enforcement of the spousal consent legal provisions in land transactions, a ‘Hustler’ fund for women-led co-operative societies, chamas, merry-go-rounds and table banking initiatives, establish a social welfare fund for Kenyan women working abroad as a safety net, and provide free sanitary towels in all schools and public washrooms.

9.    Governance

On governance, Ruto said his government would complete the transfer of all functions constitutionally earmarked as devolved functions to counties within six months, strengthen the Office of the Attorney General, audit judicial liabilities and shortcomings within the first three months, strengthen police oversight and appoint an Ombudsman to focus on human rights violations of youth, appoint all judges nominated by JSC for appointment to the Court of Appeal within seven days, establish a Special Tribunal for Gross Human Rights Violations and Enforced Disappearances, and ensure timely and predictable transfer of sharable revenue to counties.

10.    Security services

The Kenya Kwanza administration would establish a contributory benevolent fund for families of fallen and terminal ill officers, insurance cover for loss of life on duty, review and improve pay for all officers in the security sector, and give lower cadre officers (sergeant and below) the option of serving in their home counties from age 50.