SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE FIRST CABINET RETREAT, FAIRMONT MOUNT KENYA SAFARI CLUB, NANYUKI, 7TH MARCH, 2014 Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you here, in the shadow of the mountain for which our country is named. Its austere beauty has inspired our deliberations this week. Our deliberations were motivated chiefly by our desire to prudently manage our nations resources. We assembled to gather our thoughts, and to chart the course for our future all in a spirit of frankness and unity. I made it clear that this is one government, serving one nation. !here can be no division in our aims, and none in our resolve. If one succeeds, so do we all. If one fails, the reproach is collective. Our unity of purpose was stirred by what we chose to call a whole"government approach a new practice, which demands closer understanding between and within the ministries of government. !he great tests of our new practice came in the forthright assessments we undertook of each others progress, and in our planning for the future, most immediately in discussion of the national budget for #inancial $ear %&'()%&'*. !his, you will remember, is my administrations first budget, wholly of our own making. I have resolved to reform the process of making the national budget. In the past, priorities were set largely by the +resident, with his ,inister of #inance. In the present, -abinet .ecretaries, for the first time, negotiated their re/uests in unity. !his is not innovation for noveltys sake0 it rather respects the high duty of inclusion laid down by our constitution. ,y -abinet .ecretaries rose to the task. !hey have my full confidence. 1t the beginning of its tenure, my government pledged to transform the state and society of this nation. !hat commitment was e2pressed in three basic principles0 3mo4a, 3chumi and 3wa5i. Let me review with you some of our achievements under those heads.

In the security sector, after a far"reaching review, we discovered that it had been fifteen years since we invested anywhere near the /uantum of the funds that we re/uired to effectively confront our security challenges. 6othing we do to transform our country will matter if we do not get our security right. In light of the presentations made, and the discussion that followed, we resolved, together, to initiate a significant scaling up of investment in the security sector. We cannot be secure if we do not protect our protectors. !hat is why we are improving the conditions of policemen across the country0 we will supply each police station across the country with a motor vehicle7 we will provide each policeman with life insurance7 and in due course, the pilot police housing scheme will be rolled out in all the (8 of 9enyas counties. Ladies and Gentlemen, 6o sooner was our inauguration complete than we had begun to offer free maternal care. Our hopes were realised, and e2ceeded0 ::; of deliveries are now in our health facilities from ((; in the past. <emarkable improvements in our management of child and maternal health have followed0 if I were allowed 4ust one e2ample, I would mention our vastly improved ability to monitor the health of =I> positive mothers, and to intervene early, to prevent transmission to children. Our goals were linked, one to another. If we invested in the health of our mothers, we did not forget the education of our children. $ou will remember, then, that we long ago promised every child entering .tandard One a laptop. .ome of our fiercest critics ob4ected0 how could the program succeed if not every school had electricity? Our answer is brief, and is blunt. 1s my -abinet .ecretary for @nergy and +etroleum announced yesterday, we intend to ensure that every primary school in the republic will have electricity by the end of the ne2t financial year. Ladies and Gentlemen, On the transport front, we agreed a necessity to diversify our transport portfolio. !hat is why I am glad to report that our flagship transport pro4ects remain on course. Our determination to link our roads and rail, and our region, into a seamless network is undiminished.

In our manifesto, we paid special attention to the pressing matter of food security. Our flagship pro4ect here is the Galana"9ulalu irrigation pro4ect, though we will continue to support other irrigation schemes. !he Galana pro4ect promises much0 when it comes off, we e2pect to double our mai5e yield in one stroke. !he 1ttorney General was able to report that he had embarked on the most e2tensive reform of this countrys company law since independence the legislation is already before parliament. We have also 4ust begun the transformation the 6ational .ocial .ecurity #und0 the gains in management and monitoring of the assets held by the pension fund will, in time, open up investment opportunities we have only begun to e2plore interesting proposals emerged here regarding the use of the fund to support a low"cost housing initiative. !hese activities will be underpinned by the digitisation of government. #rom the presentation of my -abinet .ecretary for Information, -ommunication and !echnology, we have in place plans for a master database of government information which we describe as a single source of truth for the nation. !he direct gains in improved governance should be evident. 1nd we are on schedule to open bidding for the Lamu"Lokichar pipeline, which will go to .outh .udan and 3ganda. I e2pect it to be ready for first oil in %&':. Ladies and Gentlemen, 1 year ago, we pledged to transform the lives of our people. !he flagship pro4ects the .tandard Gauge <ailway7 the laptops that will serve our children7 the free maternal care that has already begun to save lives7 the irrigation schemes that will feed our hungry7 and the establishment of devolution under the new constitution all these and more now rest on the firmest of foundations. !he transformation has begun. 1 chief concern of ours this week was to see what we could do to hasten that transformation. 1fter long reflection here in 6anyuki, I am glad to announce the following additional measures, which demonstrate our firm resolve to prudently manage the funds which 9enyans have entrusted to us0

'. #irst0 ,indful of the rising public wage bill, my deputy and I will take a %&; pay cut and our -abinet .ecretaries and +rincipal .ecretaries have accepted a '&; pay cut, with immediate effect %. .econd0 We will draft a new international travel policy, which will restrict foreign 4ourneys to none but the most essential A. !hird, prudent governance structures and rules will be enforced7 wastage in my government will be significantly reduced (. #ourth and lastly, my Government will rationali5e the recurrent e2penditure that add no value to public service delivery *. !his together with our commitment to good governance will release additional resources for our transformation agenda. Ladies and Gentlemen, youll forgive me for repeating that we came here to have a free and frank discussion of the years progress, and to set out our priorities for the year to come. It is enough to say that in this, the fiftieth year of our independence, and the first of my administration, we recall with gratitude how far weve come. =alf a century ago, our founders, gifted with rare vision, saw from afar the promised land. It falls to us to enter it. It falls to us to become the nation of our founders dreams. !hank you and God bless you.