Africa-Press – Kenya. President William Ruto has called for unity and peaceful coexistence among all Kenyans.
Quoting Bible verses, the Head of State said it is good and pleasant when brethren live together in unity, adding that unity comes with benefits.
“Where there is unity, God commands a blessing. That is why we want all of us to unite and work together, so that God will bless us,” Ruto said.
Ruto spoke on Saturday when he presided over the laying of the foundation stone for the Eastern Kenya Integrated College laboratory at Mitaboni in Machakos county.
He reiterated that God commands blessings where there is unity and stressed that national unity is important for the country.
He assured Kenyans that no part of the country would be discriminated against by his administration in matters of development.
“I want to assure you, no part of the country will be left behind in matters of development,” Ruto said.
The President said he had resolved that the Ukambani region, as part of the country, would no longer lag behind in development.
“We must walk together as citizens of one country because that is what God wishes. We must move together as a nation,” he said.
He said his administration had worked tirelessly to revive the economy after the challenges experienced in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I told you we would work hard, pray and make plans to restore the economy. Today, you can see for yourselves: the dollar was at Sh167, now it’s at Sh129 and has remained there for one and a half years. Inflation was at 9.6, we have reduced it to 4.5,” Ruto said.
The President said his administration had consolidated and stabilised the economy, which had enabled the government to roll out development projects across the country.
He announced various projects already underway, including in the Ukambani region.
Ruto said his administration had allocated Sh5.5 billion in the current financial year for road construction in Ukambani. The funds would ensure completion of ongoing projects as well as the start of new ones.
He further announced that Sh5.7 billion had been allocated for electricity connectivity projects in the region.
On affordable housing, markets and hostels, Ruto said Sh45 billion had been allocated to the Ukambani region.
He said his administration was committed to delivering 170,000 affordable houses, 400 markets and 177,000 student hostels nationwide.
So far, the affordable housing programme has employed over 300,000 youth across the country.
“I cannot allow any part of the country to lag behind in development. It’s not right, it’s not fair, and it’s not Godly. We will work together. We are one nation, one people with a common destiny,” Ruto said.
Ruto emphasised the importance of education, saying it equalises the children of both the rich and the poor.
He cautioned that Kenyans must not make mistakes in matters of education because doing so would set the country in the wrong direction.
The Head of State noted that his administration took office when the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) faced many challenges, including a shortage of teachers.
“Over 20,000 teachers were not in school because they were unemployed. Universities faced financial difficulties, with some forced to close. We agreed that we must solve the education challenges in Kenya—CBC programmes, teacher employment, and adequate funding for our children’s education,” Ruto said.
“I can proudly tell you today that we now have clarity on the direction of CBC. We have already hired the highest number of teachers in Kenya’s history. We have hired 76,000 teachers, and we are hiring another 24,000. By January, we shall have hired 100,000 teachers to teach our children,” he added.
He said his administration had also significantly increased the budget for public universities and TVETs, from Sh45 billion in 2022 to Sh82 billion this year.
Ruto assured Kenyans that his government would ensure there are enough teachers.
He said that in the three years of his administration, 23,000 classrooms had already been constructed across the country.
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