President Kibaki’s tenure in officeopened a new chapter for “Kenya’s economic revival, infrastructure rebuilding, and constitutional overhaul. His administration put the Kenyan economy back on track with a growth rate from a low 0.4% in 2002 to 7% by the end of 2007.
Kibaki managed to expand access to financial services. The expansion of banking services also translated to enhanced access to credit by small and medium size enterprises and individuals.
The country experienced major growth in virtually all sectors. The energy sector recorded increased electricity connections to “2.11 million connections in 2012 from 686,195 in 2003”.
Kibaki further inherited a poor road network which he focused on fixing with the Roads 2000 program. The program improved over 7,000 kilometers of rural roads. The Thika Super Highway was constructed during Kibaki’s second term.
The Kibaki regime was also keen on transforming the railway system in the country. The LAPPSET project blueprint was made under the grand coalition government setting the plans for the Standard Gauge Railway which would connect Kenya to its neighbors and also enhance connectivity within the country.
The Information Communications Technology sector also registered massive growth under Kibaki. By the end of 2012, about 30 million Kenyans were using mobile phones and more had access to internet.
Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is another major milestone attained by the Kibaki government. Kibaki also adopted sound policies touching on the health sector.
Free primary education is hailed by many as one of the biggest achievements by Kibaki as a president. The Free Education Program (FEP) opened doors for over 1 million children to formal education. The tertiary education was also expanded with seven public universities, 24 university constituent colleges and 15 private universities with charters by 2012.
Following the success of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation, the Kenya Vision 2030 was formulated. This was the blue-print to create a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life by 2030.
The Kenya Vision 2030 focused on three pillars; economic, social and political that targeted ten (10) thematic areas namely infrastructure, science and technology, public sector reforms, tourism, agriculture, trade, manufacturing, Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Communication and Technology (ICT), financial services and education and training.
Under his leadership, the country saw the implementation of the first five years of the Vision 2030 blueprint. This includes the numerous infrastructure development projects, and the constitutional, legal, judicial, institutional transformation envisaged and planned for under the economic, political and social pillars on which the Vision stands. The passage of a new constitution in August 2010 further marked another major triumph for Kibaki’s presidency.
The promulgation of the 2010 Constitution crowned Kibaki’s lifetime agenda of solving Kenya’s institutional and governance challenges. These were his words on the promulgation of the Constitution: “The Constitution I promulgated in August 2010 is the boldest step the Kenyan people have taken towards changing their lives. This Constitution, sought fruitlessly for more than two decades, offered fundamental changes in the way in which the country shall be governed.”
