Uhuru says Debt in a cleaned-up gov’t is an enabler & not a burden in last Madaraka speech

President Uhuru Kenyatta has used his last Madaraka day speech to outline the achievements of his 10 year administration and extolled his big push acceleration projects including, road construction, railway expansion amongst others as have laid the foundation for the country’s take-off.

The president used the occasion to defend his government from accusations of overborrowing adding “On debt, I pose this question: When is it too much to borrow?” He said that the only time debt is a burden to a nation is when the nation is led by looters. He gave the example of South Korea which has achieved its economic miracle when it was the 4th most indebted nation in the world. The also praised his government’s infrastructural projects saying the Nairobi Expressway is the first expressway in Africa that was built using private-foreign capital.

The President also said his government had recognized the role of women of women in national development and enumerated steps his government has taken to include women in governance including the appointment of the Hon. Martha Koome as the 1st woman Chief Justice in Kenya and added “In August this year, if it is the wish of Kenyans, Kenya is going to have the 1st woman Deputy President”

President Kenyatta also decried the evolving face of the Kenyan family saying the 2019 national census reveal that families headed by single parents rose from 25.1% in 2009 to 38.2% in 2019 and called for concerted efforts to save the Kenyan family as a way of saving the children.

The President also used his power of mercy to pardon 3,908 inmates and urged them to reciprocate the country’s generosity by having a high sense of civic duty in the nation building.

To access the Presidents’s full speech, click here: tinyurl.com/2s3p5yhk