The State Department for Planning is reviewing its fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP 4) in a bid to integrate the manifesto of the President William Ruto government.
Principal Secretary Saitoti Torome told journalists in Nakuru that several teams were already working on various key sectors that have been covered in the manifesto and which form the basis of the President’s undertaking to the people of Kenya.
Torome said that the teams had already identified the key thematic areas which are focussed on bringing down the cost of food production, healthcare for all Kenyans and affordable and accessible credit for all.
The PS noted that the growth of the economy would be dependent on ensuring farmers can produce enough food all year round by establishing irrigation schemes as well as availing water for agriculture and therefore stop over reliance on rainfall fed farming.
The government will also seek to make farm inputs readily and cheaply available for farmers as well as ensure ready markets for their products. This will also involve the establishment of small industries for value addition.
Torome expressed optimism that the working groups would be able to capture the key sectors targeted for implementation that will play critical role in ensuring the current administration keeps its promises to Kenyans.
“Once the MTP has been successfully aligned with the ruling party’s manifesto, it will be disseminated to the 47 counties who are expected to develop their own County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) that will be aligned to the National Plan,” the PS explained.
“We are striving to revitalise performance through productivity enhancement in all sectors of the economy as well as emphasising inter-sector linkages and promoting cross-sector collaborations. This will build requisite synergies to drive the economic growth,” he added.
The PS said that The Fourth MTP will implement the second-last phase of Kenya Vision 2030 and set the momentum for transition to the next long term development agenda for the country. The last MTP will run for only three years as the Vision 2030 comes to a close.
Torome revealed that the government was committed to the completion and construction of critical road infrastructure that links rural areas to markets in order to assist farmers get produce to markets in record time.
In this regard, the PS further said that the government was committed to bringing down production costs by ensuring lower electricity tariffs and increased internet connectivity through construction of an ICT superhighway.
The MTP is a series of successive 5-year medium term plans which was to implement the Kenya Vision 2030. It outlines policies, programmes and projects to be implemented by the government during the period 2023 -2027.
MTP (4) will mainly dwell on achieving a sustained economic growth by reducing reliance on foreign funding, tapping into the untapped potential in value addition for products and addressing the rising levels of unemployment and income inequality through provision of cheap financing through an initiative dubbed “Hustlers Fund”.
By Jane Ngugi
