Kenya’s Chairman of the committee and Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i, said on Monday that the ongoing war in Ukraine would affect the country’s economic growth.
He added, however, that the East African country’s economy would stabilize at six per cent by 2022.
“The economy is expected to stabilise at six per cent in 2022 boosted by a strong performance at 11.9%, 9.9% in the second and third quarters of the 2021 Financial Year and remittances from the diaspora,” he said.
The revelations came out of a briefing held between the National Development Implementation Coordination and Communications Committee (NDICC) and development partners from various foreign countries on Monday.
The team met for the second time in a month after a similar meeting on February 12, 2022, and Matiang’i told it that the almost month-long war is disrupting the supply chain, particularly for fuel.
As part of efforts to open up the country, the government targets to vaccinate 26 million people, up from the current 27.1 million people aged 18 years and older, in order to give Covid immunity a boost and to promote more economic activities through increased interactions.
According to him, the government will continue to implement labour-intensive projects such as Kazi Mtaani, CBC classrooms, and other infrastructural developments around the Big Four agenda to provide job opportunities for youth and income for families.
“An additional 50 new Level 3 and Level 4 hospitals will be constructed across the country to ease pressure on the Kenyatta National Hospital and other referral institutions.”
As a result of short and below-normal rains last year, the number of people in 23 Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties in need of food and water has risen to 3.1 million.
“This is projected to rise to 3.5 million on account of depressed March-May rains based on the Metrological Department weather outlook,” he added.
An integrated program that involves mobile network operators (MNOs) and the National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) has been adopted to expedite aid to targeted recipients.
In the area of refugees, the CS said funding is required to transition 456,272 refugees living in Kakuma and Daadab centres and 87,647 refugees in Kenya’s urban centres through a ‘Marshall Plan’ that will focus on infrastructure in education, health, water, energy, security and environment conservation in designated centres.
We will also consider voluntary repatriations aimed at facilitating and encouraging refugees to return to their countries of origin.
Naturalization of East Africa Community (EAC) refugees will also contribute to addressing the refugee issue by encouraging them to apply for Kenyan citizenship and helping them integrate.
Diplomatic representatives, as well as representatives from the UN system, praised the progress made by the government in addressing various issues in the country so far.
World Bank Country Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda Keith Hansen said they were impressed by the country’s response to the economic situation, drought and the Covid-19 pandemic.