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Addis Ababa , January 31, 2009

President Mwai Kibaki following proceedings during the African Peer Review Mechanism forum where he delivered the Kenya's national programme of action at the AU Headquaters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Kenya reviewed by peers

Kenya has fast tracked comprehensive legal and constitutional reforms to midwife the formation of a stable and prosperous nation to equitably benefit all citizens, President Mwai Kibaki has said.

President Kibaki made the remarks today during the African Peer Review Mechanism Forum of Heads of State and Government at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Head of State noted that the Grand Coalition Government established last year was working for the welfare of all Kenyans and remained committed to the implementation of all set goals under the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The President said that the Government had set up several commissions of enquiry and had also enacted several laws aimed at laying the foundation for a stable, peaceful and prosperous country.

He said, " I am gratified to note that these Commissions have since concluded their work and significant progress has been made in implementing their recommendations."

Among the laws that have so far been passed include; The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission Bill (2008), The National Ethnic and Race Relations Commission Bill (2008), The Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill (2008) and The Constitution of Kenya Review Bill 2008.

Kenya was presenting its progress report on the implementation of the A.P.R.M. National Programme of Action for the period between June 2006 to January 2009.

The President extolled the recommendations advanced by A.P.R.M. in Kenya's development process adding that they have become important benchmarks on which national needs and priorities are assessed.

He noted, "As will be recalled, we faced serious challenges after the December 2007 general election. The challenges underpinned the urgent need to address the underlying issues and to create a conducive environment for sustainable peace and stability as well as social progress now and in the future."

President Kibaki said that the Government had initiated a comprehensive national land policy which attracted wide stakeholders participation with the sole aim of resolving land ownership, use, tenure and administrative systems in Kenya once and for all.

The Head of State said, "I note that land was mentioned as a key issue in the A.P.R.M. Review of Kenya. Indeed, land was one of the underlying causes of the conflict we experienced early last year. To address this challenge, my Government has facilitated the preparation of a draft National Land Policy through a very wide stakeholder consultative process."

With the regard to the economic challenges, the President said that Kenya was not immune to the effects of the downturn of the global economy which complicated the wellbeing of the citizens particularly the vulnerable groups despite various governments' interventions.

He cited the current high food shortage and the sharply increased prices of basic foods as some of the key concerns of his government which declared a national emergency due to famine that has affected most parts of the country.

The President said, "We have also put in place both short and long term measures to ensure national food security. Some of the immediate measures we have taken include streamlining the distribution of maize in the country, the duty free importation of maize as well as utilization of our national strategic grain reserves to stabilize food prices."

With regard to the high cost of energy the Head of State said that the Government had reduced Value Added Tax on electric energy and some types of diesel and residual fuel oils by more than half to ensure that Kenyans paid fair prices for fuel and other petroleum products.

To ensure reliable supply of electric power, he said that the Government was also focusing on increasing the proportion of electricity generated from hydro and geo-thermal sources.

He elaborated that to ensure sustainable development his government was pursuing sound policies which would enable the economy achieved a target growth rate of 7 per cent that had been achieved in 2007, before post election disturbances reduced it to 4.5 per cent last year.

The President said, "Indeed, my Government has developed VISION TWENTY THIRTY which outlines the policies we have to pursue in order to make Kenya a middle income country by the year Twenty Thirty. Moreover, we are implementing the priority policies covered under the NEPAD Framework document (2001) including infrastructure, human resource development, health, agriculture, science and technology. These sectors combined took the equivalent of about 63 per cent of the total budget in the financial year 2006/07 and 67 per cent in the financial year 2007/08."

He noted that his government through the VISION recognizes that Small and Medium Enterprises are the engines of Kenya's economic growth and wealth creation expressed the Government's commitment in creating an enabling environment for the development of Medium and Small Enterprises.

Other initiatives aimed at accelerating economic development include creation of the Women and Youth Enterprise funds which act as special funds for lending to the youth and women in business on concessionary terms.

"We are aware that youth unemployment remains a critical challenge. It is for this reason that my Government established a revolving Youth Fund of One Billion Kenya Shillings in 2006/2007, to enable the youth to access capital for investment. This fund was increased to 1.25 billion in 2007/2008 and further increased by 500 million shillings in the current financial year. Through this fund, young people have been enabled to start their own businesses, create wealth and generate employment for other young people. Under the Youth Enterprise Fund we have created 200,000 new jobs," commented the President.

With regard to socio-economic issues President Kibaki said that the key goal of the Vision and his government was to increase access to opportunities for all, especially disadvantaged groups, through employment, empowerment and improving access, affordability and quality of social services.

He said, "To this end, we have increased funding to core poverty programmes to ensure that they are funded sufficiently and predictably. Furthermore, the implementation of a number of targeted fiscal interventions, structural reforms and regional development initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and inequality is ongoing."

The President noted that initiatives such as the Women Fund and the executive directive requiring that women form 30 percent of all public appointments endeavoured to ensure that women are appropriately empowered in line with the A.P.R.M. recommendations.

On issues touching on corruption President Kibaki said that Kenya was a signatory to many regional and international instruments that are intended for the prevention and elimination of the vice as well as establishing key institutions to spearhead eradication of corruption.

"Kenya has also established various institutions and developed legal frameworks to combat corruption. I am glad to note that the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and other Public Oversight bodies such as Parliament, Civil Society Organizations and the public at large are actively involved in the war against corruption," said the Head of State.

With regard to infrastructure development the President said that a Road Sub-sector policy and Investment plan for the period 2007-2020 has been developed in which the government was giving priority to the construction and rehabilitation of main international and national transport corridors as well as roads serving key tourist destinations.

He also said that the government had unveiled plans to install a standard gauge railway line from the Port of Mombasa to most strategic regions of landlocked countries in the Eastern Africa region to create a railway network traversing and inter-linking Great Lakes region including Uganda, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi through to Ethiopia.

The President commended Prof. Samuel Adjepong, chairman African Peer Review Mechanism for his able stewardship as well as the A.P.R.M. Panel of Eminent Persons for their invaluable contribution towards the achievement of the aims and goals of the A.P.R.M.