Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary Prof Edward Kisiang’ani has said the implementation of programmes under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) are going on as planned.
Speaking exclusively to KBC Channel1 during the premier episode of The Shift which will air every Tuesday, Prof Kisiang’ani said the Kenya Kwanza administration has already met some of short term priority goals the regime promised before assuming office in 2022.
According to Kisiang’ani, the fertilizer subsidy programme that the government has been undertaken to cushion farmers from high cost of input has been critical in boosting food production and lowering food prices.
“When I look around and see that even the price of unga which when we came into office was going for almost Ksh 280 and now you see it is very much down to about Ksh 120-Ksh130, then you feel that is a high because that is not what the country was in 2022,” said Kisiang’ani.
Prof Kisiang’ani said the fertilizer subsidy programme has ensured the country cuts on its key food import bill and improve food production especially in Rift Valley and Western Kenya regions.
The PS said short term priority areas such as lowering the cost of living, eliminate hunger, stabilizing foreign exchange and expanding the tax revenue have been archived by the administration.
“We have stabilized the foreign exchange, when we came into office, the exchange rate to the dollar was just about Ksh 170 but now it is Ksh 128. That is not a failure, we are communicating through action,” he stated.
Additionally, the roll out of the digital hubs and Jitume programmes which the government has been undertaking has ensured access to digital jobs among the youthful population.
“We have rolled out the digitization programmes across the country and in our latest move we are now using even Kenya Power to move the fibre into homes. It is out there for you to see, these are not rumors and we are doing that to support agriculture, create jobs so that we eliminate poverty. It is interconnected and our ministry plays a role of bringing all those pillars together,” he stated.
Under BETA the government has identified five pillars to ensure the country’s socio-economic development including agricultural transformation and inclusive growth, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) economy, Housing and settlement, Healthcare, Digital superhighway and creative economy.
Key enablers of the pillars include blue economy, education and training, environment and climate change, foreign policy and regional integration, governance, infrastructure, manufacturing, service economy, women agenda, social protection, sports, culture and arts, and youth empowerment and development agenda.
