Sanyatti
Member
President Uhuru's New Year message in full
Whether you are in Kenya or in the Diaspora, I wish you all a Happy New Year, a safe and prosperous 2022.
•As we bid goodbye to 2021, we rejoice in the fact that 2022 givesus an opportunity to do things better. By offering us a reset, the NewYear is one for course-correction and building back better.
•Whether you are in Kenya or in the Diaspora, I wish you all a Happy New Year, a safe and prosperous 2022.
The New Year is a time to reflect with immense gratitude on theaccomplishments and breakthroughs of the last 12 months. It is also atime to reflect on what worked, what did not, and what we can reimagine in the New Year.
As we bid goodbye to 2021, we rejoice in the fact that 2022 givesus an opportunity to do things better. By offering us a reset, the NewYear is one for course-correction and building back better.
But there is always a challenge to every new beginning. We tendto celebrate the milestones of the past at the expense of making realour dreams of the future. And this is because the past is visible andconcrete. Its victories and failures are spread out for all to see. Butthe future is invisible to the naked eye, and only those with the lens offaith can see it; and only the bold and the courageous can achieve it.
The past explains how we got here as a nation but the future is anempty slate. The New Year will give each and every Kenyan 365 daysof blank slates upon which they will chronicle their story. As a nation, itis up to us to write our 2022 story page by page; ensuring that each daywe make Kenya better than it was the day before.
My Fellow Countrymen,
Each Kenyan generation in an unbroken chain all the way fromthe dawn of time to the present day makes a mark on our nationalfabric. Every generation that came before us made their contribution to therealization of our shared aspirations.
Over the last nine years, MyAdministration has built on the foundations of the previous threeadministrations; adding our bricks to theirs so that the 2022dream and beyond will be realised.
This last year, My Administration continued to bridge ‘thedeficits that actually matter’. We bridged the infrastructure deficit,we bridged the deficit of accessibility to quality and affordable healthcarefor all, and we bridged the deficit of a weak agricultural regulatoryframework. We also bridged the deficit of insecurity by scaling up our security sector reforms; and we vastly improved the ease of doingbusiness in Kenya, making it easier for Kenyans to thrive in enterprise.
In the New Year 2022, the nation will move closer to the realizationof the Universal Health Coverage. Through our different programmes,health care will be available to all and affordable for all. This will bemade possible because of the bold and progressive legislation wehave made to support it.
Similarly, in 2022 several seminal state projects will be completedand the dividends of those public investments will be felt by Kenyans.In the early part of 2022 for instance, the CBC InfrastructureProgramme will have delivered 10,000 classrooms across the country;securing our children a better environment for their studies.
Our landscape in the New Year will also be redefined by thecompletion of the construction of major road arteries across everypart of the nation. Notably, the iconic Nairobi Expressway will be openfor use in the first quarter of the New Year.
Away from Nairobi, we will also complete the Kisumu MamboleoRoad, the Eldoret Bypass; Isebania – Kisii Road; KibweziMutumo-Kitui-Migwani Road; Garsen-Witu-Road; LaisamisNgurunit Road; Makutano-Kachelieba-Konyao Road in West –Pokot; Ngong Suswa Road; Kenol-Marua Road; the MombasaRoads Network; the James Gichuru- Rironi Road Expansion, and theMau Mau Roads.
In the New Year the significant progress we have made inAffordable Housing, Food Security and the expansion of domesticManufacturing will become more visible. Also notable will be ourupgraded defence and internal security capabilities. In fact, we havelaid a superlative foundation for our external and internal defence uponwhich future administrations can build on.
In keeping with our commitment to conservation and enhancing our heritage of splendour, in 2022 the Greening Kenya Campaign is expected to lead us closer to the realization of the goal of a minimum of 10% forest cover. The Campaign will achieve this by the planting of an additional 1 billion trees. I urge every Kenyan to support this worthyinitiative, as well as all others that target a Green Kenya.
Environmental conservation and regeneration have direct andimmediate tangible benefits. For instance, in 2022 the NairobiMetropolitan Area will significantly address the water scarcity thathas plagued the metropolis through the completion of the Northern Collector Water Supply Project that is expected to double watersupply to the region.
Reforms in the Energy Sector will also continue a pace, withelectricity prices expected to be reviewed even further downwards by theend of the first quarter of the year 2022.
To boost tourism, trade, and social engagement; and to bolstercontinental integration; our national carrier Kenya Airways will joinhands with our partners in South Africa to establish a Pan-AfricanAirline with unmatched continental reach and global coverage.
In the New Year, within the Region, for greater fraternity, security,and shared prosperity; Kenya will join the other members of the EastAfrican Community in welcoming the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Community. This eagerly awaited addition to the EAC will make thecommunity stronger and more capable of delivering the East AfricanDream.
Globally, Kenya’s leadership on the international stage and ouradvocacy for a more free, fair, and prosperous world will continue. Wewill continue to use our position in the United Nations Security Councilto promote the cause of peace, harmony, reconciliation, andcooperation.
Fellow Kenyans.
Although we have built a strong foundation for generations tocome, we can destroy it in one stroke. And that is why this New Year’swe must reflect on the irreducible minimums required for the survivalof our Nation-State.
For starters, we must choose leadership over politics. Leadershipis about vision while politics is about positions. Leadership is about thenext generation, whereas politics is concerned merely with the nextelection. Indeed, our obsession with politics has only slowed down therealization of our potential as a people.
I say so because the colonizers introduced a virus in our Africanpolitical systems. They made us believe that the Political Kingdom wasmore desirable than the Economic Kingdom. And because the pursuit of the Political Kingdom has onlyentrenched poverty in Africa, we must re-think this model. Since chasing the Political Kingdom is a relic of the colonial order, the new frontierfor Kenya must be economic development not hindered by orcontingent on politics. And there is empirical evidence to support this.
Whether you are in Kenya or in the Diaspora, I wish you all a Happy New Year, a safe and prosperous 2022.•As we bid goodbye to 2021, we rejoice in the fact that 2022 givesus an opportunity to do things better. By offering us a reset, the NewYear is one for course-correction and building back better.
•Whether you are in Kenya or in the Diaspora, I wish you all a Happy New Year, a safe and prosperous 2022.
The New Year is a time to reflect with immense gratitude on theaccomplishments and breakthroughs of the last 12 months. It is also atime to reflect on what worked, what did not, and what we can reimagine in the New Year.
As we bid goodbye to 2021, we rejoice in the fact that 2022 givesus an opportunity to do things better. By offering us a reset, the NewYear is one for course-correction and building back better.
But there is always a challenge to every new beginning. We tendto celebrate the milestones of the past at the expense of making realour dreams of the future. And this is because the past is visible andconcrete. Its victories and failures are spread out for all to see. Butthe future is invisible to the naked eye, and only those with the lens offaith can see it; and only the bold and the courageous can achieve it.
The past explains how we got here as a nation but the future is anempty slate. The New Year will give each and every Kenyan 365 daysof blank slates upon which they will chronicle their story. As a nation, itis up to us to write our 2022 story page by page; ensuring that each daywe make Kenya better than it was the day before.
My Fellow Countrymen,
Each Kenyan generation in an unbroken chain all the way fromthe dawn of time to the present day makes a mark on our nationalfabric. Every generation that came before us made their contribution to therealization of our shared aspirations.
Over the last nine years, MyAdministration has built on the foundations of the previous threeadministrations; adding our bricks to theirs so that the 2022dream and beyond will be realised.
This last year, My Administration continued to bridge ‘thedeficits that actually matter’. We bridged the infrastructure deficit,we bridged the deficit of accessibility to quality and affordable healthcarefor all, and we bridged the deficit of a weak agricultural regulatoryframework. We also bridged the deficit of insecurity by scaling up our security sector reforms; and we vastly improved the ease of doingbusiness in Kenya, making it easier for Kenyans to thrive in enterprise.
In the New Year 2022, the nation will move closer to the realizationof the Universal Health Coverage. Through our different programmes,health care will be available to all and affordable for all. This will bemade possible because of the bold and progressive legislation wehave made to support it.
Similarly, in 2022 several seminal state projects will be completedand the dividends of those public investments will be felt by Kenyans.In the early part of 2022 for instance, the CBC InfrastructureProgramme will have delivered 10,000 classrooms across the country;securing our children a better environment for their studies.
Our landscape in the New Year will also be redefined by thecompletion of the construction of major road arteries across everypart of the nation. Notably, the iconic Nairobi Expressway will be openfor use in the first quarter of the New Year.
Away from Nairobi, we will also complete the Kisumu MamboleoRoad, the Eldoret Bypass; Isebania – Kisii Road; KibweziMutumo-Kitui-Migwani Road; Garsen-Witu-Road; LaisamisNgurunit Road; Makutano-Kachelieba-Konyao Road in West –Pokot; Ngong Suswa Road; Kenol-Marua Road; the MombasaRoads Network; the James Gichuru- Rironi Road Expansion, and theMau Mau Roads.
In the New Year the significant progress we have made inAffordable Housing, Food Security and the expansion of domesticManufacturing will become more visible. Also notable will be ourupgraded defence and internal security capabilities. In fact, we havelaid a superlative foundation for our external and internal defence uponwhich future administrations can build on.
In keeping with our commitment to conservation and enhancing our heritage of splendour, in 2022 the Greening Kenya Campaign is expected to lead us closer to the realization of the goal of a minimum of 10% forest cover. The Campaign will achieve this by the planting of an additional 1 billion trees. I urge every Kenyan to support this worthyinitiative, as well as all others that target a Green Kenya.
Environmental conservation and regeneration have direct andimmediate tangible benefits. For instance, in 2022 the NairobiMetropolitan Area will significantly address the water scarcity thathas plagued the metropolis through the completion of the Northern Collector Water Supply Project that is expected to double watersupply to the region.
Reforms in the Energy Sector will also continue a pace, withelectricity prices expected to be reviewed even further downwards by theend of the first quarter of the year 2022.
To boost tourism, trade, and social engagement; and to bolstercontinental integration; our national carrier Kenya Airways will joinhands with our partners in South Africa to establish a Pan-AfricanAirline with unmatched continental reach and global coverage.
In the New Year, within the Region, for greater fraternity, security,and shared prosperity; Kenya will join the other members of the EastAfrican Community in welcoming the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Community. This eagerly awaited addition to the EAC will make thecommunity stronger and more capable of delivering the East AfricanDream.
Globally, Kenya’s leadership on the international stage and ouradvocacy for a more free, fair, and prosperous world will continue. Wewill continue to use our position in the United Nations Security Councilto promote the cause of peace, harmony, reconciliation, andcooperation.
Fellow Kenyans.
Although we have built a strong foundation for generations tocome, we can destroy it in one stroke. And that is why this New Year’swe must reflect on the irreducible minimums required for the survivalof our Nation-State.
For starters, we must choose leadership over politics. Leadershipis about vision while politics is about positions. Leadership is about thenext generation, whereas politics is concerned merely with the nextelection. Indeed, our obsession with politics has only slowed down therealization of our potential as a people.
I say so because the colonizers introduced a virus in our Africanpolitical systems. They made us believe that the Political Kingdom wasmore desirable than the Economic Kingdom. And because the pursuit of the Political Kingdom has onlyentrenched poverty in Africa, we must re-think this model. Since chasing the Political Kingdom is a relic of the colonial order, the new frontierfor Kenya must be economic development not hindered by orcontingent on politics. And there is empirical evidence to support this.