The National Government through the State Department for Planning has initiated formulation of the Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP IV) 2023-2027 to collect views from the country’s 47 counties.
The forums will give opportunity to stakeholders and the public to discuss and propose county development priorities that will form the basis for the Fourth MTP policies, programmes and projects.
The revelations were made by the National Treasury and Planning Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ukur Yattani said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry, Dr Julius Muia in a hotel in Wote town during a consultation forum.
“The MTP IV will succeed the Third MTP 2018-2022 whose implementation is coming to an end, June, 2023. It will implement the fourth phase of the Kenya Vision 2030.
Consequently, Yattani said that the Draft MTP is expected to be ready by the end of July, 2022 shortly before the next general elections saying it will be subjected to validation before being published and officially launched.
“The endorsement process will involve the National Steering Committee, the National Stakeholders Forum, the Cabinet, Parliament Committees and a National Stakeholders Validation Forum,” he said.
Yattani further noted that once the MTP has been officially launched, it will be disseminated to the 47 counties who are expected to develop their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) that will be aligned to the Constitution and Kenya Vision 2030.
During the speech, Yattani revealed that the government will complete all the projects initiated in the previous development plans like MTP I, MTP II and MPTP III respectively.
“We are striving to revitalize performance through productivity enhancement in all sectors of the economy as well as emphasizing inter-sector linkages and promoting cross-sector collaborations. This will build requisite synergies to drive the economic growth,” said Yattani.
The Fourth Medium Term Plan has adopted the theme, “Accelerating Socio-economic Transformation to a more competitive, Inclusive and Resilient Economy.”
This will transform the economy, create much needed wealth and employment and reduce poverty and inequality, hence create a conducive environment for investment.
About 150 participants drawn from the nine sub-counties gave their input to enrich the MTP IV from the county. Officials from the county government were present.
Earlier, Makueni Governor Professor Kivutha Kibwana, said that his county has made a lot of strides since the advent of devolution saying this has been largely due to the support they got from the national government.
Kibwana said this when the PS Muia paid him a courtesy call where he expressed his concern over the delay of disbursement of funds from the national government that results in paying salaries to the county staff.
On his part, the PS noted that it was important for the public to participate in the ongoing forums across the country as the input will inform the development agenda of each county.
Further, Muia assured the county governments that the national government will support them while noting that he was impressed by the development seen in most counties in the country.
By Patrick Nyakundi
