Aquaculture production in Kenya has grown steadily in recent years to more than 18,000 tonnes in 2019 and plays an increasingly important role in national fish supply. Kenya is ranked the fourth in aquaculture in Africa and endowed with a vast network of aquatic resources comprising freshwater lakes and rivers, and an extensive ocean resource base. The fisheries and aquaculture sector contributes about 0.8 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing direct employment to over 500,000 people and supporting over two million people indirectly.
Current annual demand for fish feed in Kenya is estimated at 34,000 tonnes. However, has far greater capacity for fish farming, with over 1.14 million hectares potentially available with potential a production capacity of over 11 million tonnes per year.
The Blue Economy
The Blue Economy in Kenya represents a huge opportunity and potential to achieve economic growth and generate jobs. The concept recognizes productivity of healthy freshwater and ocean ecosystems as a pathway for freshwater aquatic and maritime-based economies, and promotes the conservation, sustainable use, and management of associated marine resources.
In aquaculture, the approaches for actualising the aspirations embodied in the Blue Economy concept include Cage culture (Ocean, Lakes, Dams, and Rivers); Integrated RAS; Aquaponics/Greenhouse; Pens; breeding and restocking of commercially important indigenous species; and live fish markets
Fish Feeds
Due to the growing demand for fish and fish products, there has been a gradual shift from extensive to moderately intensive aquaculture systems, leading to an increased demand for high quality commercial fish feeds. The Government through the Kenya Marine Fisheries Institute (KMFRI) has developed fish feed standards in partnership with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to serve a market whose demand is estimated at 7,000 tonnes annually.
Kenya has fast-growing fish species (Nile tilapia, African catfish), extensive freshwater resources suitable for the cage, pond and tank-based aquaculture systems and its agriculture and fisheries sectors produce enough raw materials for making fish feed. Kenya also has a highly developed fish processing sector and quality assurance laboratories. Highest pond numbers and aquaculture related activities are found in Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Kisii, Meru, Nyeri, Kisumu, Muranga, Embu counties, among others, while relatively lower activity are noted in Kitui, Lamu and Elgeyo Marakwet.
The main cultured species in Kenya’s freshwater systems are Nile tilapia which accounts for 80 per cent of production, followed by African catfish (14 per cent). These species are found in virtually all aquatic systems and have high demand in the local and regional markets. Polyculture of Nile tilapia and African catfish is often done to control the prolific breeding of the former. Other exotic species include common carp (4 per cent), rainbow trout (2 per cent), koi carp, largemouth bass and goldfish.
Trout is temperature restricted thus only cultured at temperatures below 19°C mainly in the Mt. Kenya region. Potential indigenous candidates for aquaculture include African Carps, Lungfish and Tilapia jipe. There are great opportunities in ornamental fish culture for they can be marketed within the East African region and in Europe. The most farmed finfish species is milkfish, which accounts for about 90 per cent of production, followed by mullet contributing about 10 per cent of aquaculture production.
Juveniles of these species are found in the mangrove systems and are in high demand. Shellfish culture in coastal Kenya involves mud crabs, prawns, and artemia.
Regulatory interventions
Legislation is underway to support projects geared at pushing annual output to at least 300,000 metric tonnes of fish worth Sh100 billion annually. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development has developed a raft of policy, regulatory and financing incentives to accelerate transformation of the fisheries sector. Among them is the Draft Marine Fisheries Access Regulations 2021 to support local exploitation Kenya’s 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The regulations will address unregulated fishing and transshipment of stock outside the country.
They will operationalise the Fishing Management and Development Act 2016, providing clarity on joint ventures between foreign investors and Kenyans at international, national or written agreements on fisheries access. They will also address some of the challenges facing Kenyan fishermen and seal loopholes used by foreign fishing vessels use to exploit the country’s rich marine resources. Efforts to transform this sub-sector have gained steam to boost food security, exports and rural livelihoods.
The Kenya Fisheries Industries Corporation and the Liwatoni Fishing Port has been gazetted. Efforts are also ongoing to improve local strain of tilapia, refurbish four fish landing sites in the coastal region, construct fish quality control laboratories and national aquaculture resource centre,
Aquaculture Value Chain
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) has developed new products to improve fish value chain in the country. The products which include minced fish, fish samosa, fish sausages, fish fingers, fish gel, smoked fish and fish fillets are being introduced to farmers as a way to add value to their fish. They were developed in collaboration with KMFRI’s research partners to promote fish farming as an income generating venture and boost production.
Through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) run jointly by KMFRI and KALRO, the new products are being rolled out to farmers in Siaya, Busia, Kakamega, Lamu and Marsabit Counties. Also developed by KMFRI is a modern fish smoking kiln. Collaboration with Maseno University, Egerton University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and University of Eldoret has led to development of new products for fish farmers.
For instance, KMFRI has partnered with JKUAT to produce insect-based feeds which are nutritious for fish and will ensure that farmers get higher yields. KMFRI is also supplying fish farmers with high quality breeds and fingerlings.
Lifebyte
By Florence Kinyua and Bernard Munyao, KNA
Jeremiah Makimi ventured into fish rearing two years ago and has been making a fortune out of it. Speaking to KNA in his home in Sagana, he admits it was not easy starting out fish farming because aquaculture is not popular in Central Kenya but with resilience and a few false starts, he has managed to carve a niche for himself. “I started with constructing two ponds in our half acre piece of land, which I stocked with 2000 fingerlings of catfish in each pond,” said Makimi
He notes that despite there being adequate water masses in Central, fish farming remains unexploited as many shy away from the venture due to high start-up capital as Makimi elaborates.“I constructed two ponds, each measuring 8m by 10m and purchased fish nets to keep predators like birds and other animals away,” he notes. The Construction and stocking with fingerlings cost the Makimi close to Kshs 200,000. “I sourced 4000 fingerlings from a fellow farmer at a cost of KShs 10 per fingerling,” observed Makimi.
The fish farmer adds that with time they diversified to other species of fish and currently they have five ponds each containing different species of fish. “I rear tilapia, catfish and other ornamental fish that are doing very well in this cool climatic condition” he pointed out. Normally, the fingerlings are stocked at three weeks and are mature to sell at 8 months. He says adding that farmers need to be careful and know when the fish mature because fish eat each other. The fish are fed twice a day, with worms, waste feeds and artificial feeds. Together with his wife Jane, Makimi runs an exclusive fish restaurant that serves local community.
In addition to the restaurant, Makimi sells his fish to suppliers and other buyers in Kirinyaga and Murang’a. “I make a profit of Kshs 100 per kilo of fish and per harvest I’m able to make a profit of Kshs 40,000 and I can harvest up to 500 Kgs,” he expounded. He mentors other farmers who want to venture into fish farming and together they have formed a group of 40 members. “I have offered mentorship to around 40 farmers who have all started their own fishponds” confirms Makimi adding that aquaculture is profitable if one has his own land and fresh source of water. “I would encourage more people to venture into it, as there is a lot of unexploited potential since the demand is high”. However, like any other venture, as Makimi says, fish farming has its fair share of challenges. He observes that disposal of fish water due to pollution is one of the challenges farmers have to grapple with. He also notes that sometimes there is shortage of water, and that the feeds too are expensive.
One of the warehouses where the Warehouse Receipt System is under implementation. Under the Warehouse Receipt System, the farmer will deposits his harvest in a certified warehouse and is issued with a document of title called a Warehouse Receipt as proof of ownership. This allows the farmer to survey the market and sell at the best market rates and at the same time, the farmer can use the receipt as collateral for a loan from participating financial institutions to offset pressing monetary needs or prepare for the next season.
Around 14 per cent of produce worldwide is lost after harvest on farms and at the transport, storage, processing and wholesale stages, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This amounts to more than US$ 400 billion a year. FAO estimates that over 40 percent of food in Sub-Saharan Africa perishes before it reaches a consumer, often referred to as food loss. For Fresh Produce, this can be as high as 60 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 90 percent of Kenya’s agricultural produce comes from smallholders, who don’t have the kind of cold storage solutions available to large-scale producers.
The most affected are fruits and vegetables. It is estimated that 40 per cent to 60 per cent of fruits and vegetables perish along the supply chain due to a lack of warehousing and cold chain solutions in Kenya. Most crops are only seasonally available with price variations between peak harvest and low season reaching up to 500 per cent under normal conditions.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres last year described food loss and waste as an “ethical outrage.” “In a world with enough food to feed all people, everywhere, 690 million people continue to go hungry and 3 billion cannot afford a healthy diet,” he said. Consolidated warehousing for commodities and agriculture in the value-chain reduces wastage. Modern warehouses with security and pest and temperature control could radically reduce this loss.
Warehouse Receipt System
The introduction of the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) by the Government has been nothing short of revolutionary. First introduced to reduce post-harvest losses for cereal farmers by the National Cereals and Produce Board, the WRS now covers coffee and tea as well. WRS is a process where producers deposit their commodities in certified warehouses and are issued with a Warehouse Receipt. Its impact is massive. WRS is already credited with:
Reducing post-harvest losses: enabling small scale farmers to participate in a modern and efficient market with standard quality and weights.
Increasing access to finance: encouraging increased lending to the Agricultural sector by providing alternative collateral (commodity) and mitigating risk to the banks, especially for the youth and women who do not have access to traditional collaterals such as Title deeds and logbooks
Quantity and quality: enabling small scale farmers to participate in a modern and efficient market with standard quality and weight
Promotion of aggregation of produce by small scale farmers: enabling access to large traders, Agro-processors and value addition.
Creating flexibility in the sale process: enabling farmers to align the sale of their commodities to favourable pricing
Reducing price volatility and improving liquidity as the first step towards a commodity exchange and improved price discovery/stable prices
Eliminating the gap between men, women and the youth in access to agricultural resources such as Loans.
Access to loans for women and youth
Phase 1 roll-out of the Warehouse Receipt System in Kenya covers five NCPB Certified Warehouses in Kitale, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nairobi and Meru. The Agriculture Food Authority (AFA) directorate is tasked with carrying out inspection and certification process of NCPB stores under the Food Crops Regulations that were drafted pursuant to Section 40 of the Crops Act 2013. The requirements for warehouse standard for food storage uses a check list that has 122 check boxes as guided by Kenya standards, 2657 /2016 on warehousing and storage of bulk commodities.
Several parastatals, including the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) and New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) are participants in the WRS. Under the new reforms private sector is allowed to participate in the WRS as NCPB will initially have to cede at least 25 per cent of its storage capacity across the country through competitive commercial leasing. The Government has also lifted restrictions on the use of customs bonded warehouses in the country. These are warehouses licensed by KRA for the storage of imported goods pending the payment of duties.
According to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) the country does not have the capacity to produce a wide range of imported products including lubricants, alcoholic beverages and building and construction materials. Warehousing ensures continuous production as raw materials are kept within the country rather than imported when required. It makes it possible for businesses to establish highly efficient supply chains, giving them a competitive advantage.
As these businesses grow, they create economic opportunities by creating jobs (directly and indirectly). For the companies that opt for large scale production and bulk supply, warehousing is a must. Warehousing help companies ensure quick supply of goods in demand.
President Uhuru Kenyatta with the Kenya official Tokyo 2020 Olympic games team during the unveiling of the jersey, and National flag handover.
Once again, athletics provided all of Team Kenya’s medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as other disciplines returned home empty-handed. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games took place in Japan amid a crippling COVID-19 pandemic, occasioning a year’s delay in the Games. Instead, the Games took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.
The Paralympics, the event designed for athletes with visual, physical and intellectual challenges, took place in Tokyo from August 24 to September 5, 2021. The events retained the 2020 tag despite the one-year delay.
Participating for the 15th time at the quadrennial event since its debut in 1956, Kenya was among 205 nations, plus a Refugee team, that took part in the Games.
Team Kenya Paralympics debuted at the Games in 1972 in Heildelberg, Germany, and the 2020 edition was the country’s 12th appearance in Tokyo, where 163 nations competed.
Overview of Team Kenya
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were Kenya’s ninth straight appearance since boycotting the 1976 Montreal and the 1980 Moscow Games. Kenya sent a total of 85 athletes in seven disciplines, as they returned to the city where the country won its first ever Olympic medal, a bronze, in 800m at the 1964 Olympics through Wilson Kiprugut Chumo.
Kenya took part in seven disciplines, with the Beach Volleyball duo of Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Khadambi Agala being the newest of the Team.
It was a nostalgic return for Team Kenya, but not an entirely happy one – at least not at the beginning.
The women indoor volleyball team, beach volleyball, Rugby Sevens men and women, and the two boxers took a beating in the early days of the competition.
All eyes were on the Athletics contingent, considered Team Kenya’s mainstay. The 2016 Rio Olympics was by then the most successful outing for Kenya (6 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze) and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenyans retained the confidence of another superlative performance.
But they were in for a shock when Team Kenya relinquished the 1,500m (men) gold and, for the first time ever, the other race made in Kenya, by Kenyans, for Kenyans – the men’s 3,000m steeplechase.
The Athletics team, however, clawed back their pride by winning four gold, four silver and two bronze medals under stifling heat and humidity in the Tokyo summer conditions.
The medals saw the team finish a respectable 19th overall position at the Games and, of course, the top in Africa.
Gold Medals in focus
Gold: Emmanuel Korir (800m men)
With the king of the two-lap race, David Rudisha, blighted by injuries since winning the London 2012 competition in record time (1:40.91), and Rio 2016, Kenyans had doubts as the team headed to Tokyo with Emmanuel Korir, Ferguson Rotich and Michael Saruni.
Korir, a trainee of the 1988 Seoul Olympics 800m hero, had the country on tenterhooks as he hung on at the final bend for a precious gold in 1:45.06, with Rotich (1:45.23) engaging the afterburners for an unlikely 1-2 finish.
Gold: Faith Chepngetich (1,500m women)
The headlines toyed with her first name as the country banked on the indefatigable Faith. Despite her fighting spirit, there was talk of a Dutch threat posed by Sifan Hassan and England’s Laura Muir. Chepngetich, however, took them as they came. In the final, she outran both and set an Olympic record of 3:53.11.
Marathon gold
For the second successive Olympics, Kenya won both medals in the most punishing of races.
Eliud Kipchoge and Jemimah Sumgong brought home gold from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Tokyo 2020 welcomed two of the world’s record holders, Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:39 set in 2018) and Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04 set in 2019) in a race staged in Sapporo, 831km north of the capital. Due to the heat in Tokyo that was hovering above 30°C, organisers settled for Sapporo as it offered 2°C to 3°C lower advantage. Both races started at 27°C on each day; August 7, 2021 (women) and August 8, 2021 (men). The Kenyans put up an incredible show.
Gold: Peres Jepchirchir (women marathon)
The Kenyan girls defied the harsh weather, such that by the 30km point of the 42.195km race, it was clear Team Kenya meant business. Ruth Chepngetich, who had sacrificed herself by setting the pace, fell off by the 25km mark, leaving Jepchirchir and Kosgei in a good position to deliver the goods. Indeed, Jepchirchir (2:27:20) guided home Kosgei (2:27:36) for gold and silver.
Eliud Kipchoge (Men marathon)
There had been a chink in the armour of marathon king Eliud Kipchoge, having been beaten for the second time in his career, at the 2020 London Marathon. Ethiopian Shura Kitata won in London on October 4, 2020 – a win that yanked the door open for the Doubting Thomases.
Kitata led a battery of other road hogs to Sapporo for a showdown that pundits said would be the ‘ultimate test’ for Kipchoge. Shock on them! Kipchoge put up a majestic performance, finishing the race with a sprint in the stifling Sapporo heat and humidity, in 2:08:38. His compatriots, Lawrence Cherono (2:10:02) finished fourth while injured Amos Kipruto dropped out. The gold was safe and back home.
Honourable mentions
Silver medalists
Ferguson Rotich (800m men)
Hellen Obiri (5,000m women)
Brigid Kosgei (women marathon)
Timothy Cheruiyot (1,500m men)
Bronze medalists
Benjamin Kigen (3,000m steeplechase; men)
Hyvin Kiyeng (3,000m steeplechase; women)
Boxing
Kenya’s last two medals in boxing came in the 1988 Seoul Olympics; Robert Wangila’s gold in Welterweight and Chris Sande’s bronze in Middleweight during the reign of the ‘Hit Squad’.
And so, at the 2020 Tokyo Games, the weight of expectation was on two male boxers; Nick Okoth (Featherweight), Elly Ajowi Ochola (Heavyweight) and two women – Christine Ongare (Flyweight) and Elizabeth Akinyi (Welterweight).
Nick Okoth lost in the round of 32 to Mongolia’s Tsendbaatar Erdenebatyn while Ajowi fell to Cuba’s Julio Ceasar la Cruz Peraza in the round of 16, having got a bye in the round of 32. The Philippine’s Irish Magno eliminated Ongare at the round of 32 while Akinyi lost to Mozambique’s Alcinda Helena Panguana in the round of 16 after a bye in the round of 32.
Rugby Sevens (men and women)
Kenya returned to the Olympics for a second straight time, having competed at the inaugural edition at Rio in 2016. Any hope of banishing the ghosts were quickly eroded after Shujaa fell 14-5 and later 19-14 to the US. The two defeats took the wind out of the sails of the Kenyans, and another loss, 12-7 to Ireland, confirmed the inevitable.
Wins over Japan (21-7) and Ireland (22-0) in the ranking matches proved only academic as Kenya’s challenge collapsed under the Tokyo heat. Kenya finished ninth out 12 countries.
Men’s squad
The Kenya Sevens men team, Shujaa: Andrew Amonde (KCB, captain) Alvin Otieno (Homeboyz), Vincent Onyala (KCB), Herman Humwa (Kenya Harlequin), Collins Injera (Mwamba), Daniel Taabu (Mwamba), Willy Ambaka (Kenya Harlequin), Johnstone Olindi (KCB), Eden Agero (Kenya Harlequin), Jeffrey Oluoch (Homeboyz), Nelson Oyoo (Top Fry, Nakuru), Jacob Ojee (KCB), and Billy Odhiambo (Mwamba).
Officials: Innocent Simiyu (coach), Anthony Muchiri (assistant coach), Lamch Francis (medic), Erick Ogweno (manager).
Try scorers – Two tries
Collins Injera
Jeff Oluoch
One try
Willy Ambaka
Andrew Amonde
Jacob Ojee
Johnstone Olindi
Vincent Onyala
Alvin Otieno
Daniel Taabu
Kenya Sevens women team, Lionesses
Tokyo 2020 was the Lionesses’ second appearance at the Games, the first being in the Rio 2016 edition. Pooled alongside illustrious nations, the Lionesses proved easy game to New Zealand, Russia Olympic Committee team and Great Britain.
The Lionesses, however, claimed the host’s scalps 21-17 in the ranking match but were pushed back by Canada 24-10 to finish 10.
Officials: Felix Oloo (coach), Samuel Njogu (strength and conditioning coach), Ben Mahinda (medic), Camilyne Oyuayo (manager).
Try Scorers – 3 tries
Janet Okello
1 try
Christabel Lindo
Grace Okulu
Sinaida Omondi
Camilla Atieno
Diana Ochieng’
Final standings
Gold: New Zealand
Silver: France
Bronze: Fiji
Great Britain
Australia
USA
China
Russia Olympic Committee
Canada
Kenya
Brazil
Japan
Swimming
Kenya was represented by two swimmers; Danilo Rosafio and Emily Muteti.
Rosafio competed in the men’s 100 metre freestyle. Although he finished first in Heat 2, his time of 52.54 could only place him 56th overall out of 71.
Muteti – The Mombasa-born swimmer, represented Kenya in the women’s 50 metre freestyle event. With 16 top performers out of 83 advancing to the round of 16, Muteti’s 26.31 seconds for fourth position in Heat 6 saw her finish 43rd overall.
Beach Volleyball’s baptism of fire
The Kenya Beach Volleyball team debuted at the Olympics. As is usual for most debutants, Kenya’s pair of Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Agala found themselves in the deep end of the pool.
The duo lost all their matches; 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) to the Brazilian pair of Anna Patricia Ramos Silva and Rebecca Silva. They went down 2-0 (21-8, 21-6) to USA’s Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes. And another defeat, 2-0 (6–21, 14–21), to Latvia’s Anastasija Kravčenoka and Tina Graudiņa. But it was no shame for the Kenyans as USA eventually won gold.
Taekwondo
The sole Kenyan representative, Faith Ogalo, had to go through the repechage to earn passage to round one proper in the Women’s 67kg.
On July 27, 2021 Ogalo lost both fights (15-7 against Poland’s Aleksandra Kowalczuk; and 13-0 against Serbia’s Milica Mandić).
Tokyo 2020 Paralympics review
Team Kenya returned home with a bruised nose
Overview
The Team Kenya Paralympics arrived in Tokyo hoping for a decent outing amid concerns of inadequate preparedness, given the COVID-19 pandemic that made it difficult for athletes with special needs to train.
Nevertheless, Kenya sent nine athletes; seven for track events and one each in Para-rowing and Powerlifting. The visually impaired athletes, as a standard procedure, had their guides.
Kenya arrived in Tokyo with five records under its belt, but after grueling action that ended on September 5, 2021, Samwel Mushai’s record in 1,500m T11 had been demolished by a Brazilian.
Team Kenya Paralympic athletes and guides:
Eric Kiptoo Sang (Guide, David Korir) – 1,500m (T11)
Wilson Bii (Guide, Robert Tarus) – 1,500m T11, 5,000m (T11)
Para-rowing (Single Sculls – PR1W1x): Asiya Sururu Mohamed
Asiya Sururu Mohamed made history as Kenya’s first ever woman to participate in the Paralympics water events as she took part in the Women’s Single Sculls. Predictably, the going proved tough but not without precious lessons learnt. The Kenyan double amputee was placed 12th overall, registering an impressive 13:14.26 time on day two of the competition. Norway’s World Record holder Birgit Skarstein won gold.
Asiya’s timings
Day One: 13:45.50
Repechage 1: 13:14.26
Repechage 2: 14:27.48 minutes
*Repechage: (in rowing and other sports) is a contest where the best-placed of those who failed to win heats compete for a place in the final.
Powerlifting – Hellen Wawira Kariuki
Hellen Wawira Kariuki was the first Kenyan in action at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics Games on August 26, 2021.
In a quality field that yielded a World Record via China’s Lingling Guo, who lifted 108kg, Wawira did not desecrate the Kenyan flag as she was placed fifth with a flawless lifting of up to 93kg. Indonesia’s
Widiasih Ni Nengah lifted 98kg for silver while Sarahy Clara Monasterio Fuentes of Venezuela (97kg) settled for bronze.
Final classification: Women’s 41kg Powerlifting
Lingling Guo (China) Best lift: 108kg (gold).
Ni Nengah Widiasih (Indonesia) 98kg (silver).
Clara Sarahy Fuentes Monasterio (Ven) 97kg (bronze).
Zoe Newson (Great Britain) 94kg.
Hellen Wawira Kariuki (Kenya) 93kg.
Cristina Poblador Granados (Colombia) 92kg.
Lara Aparecida de Lima (Brazil) 88kg.
Moura Baddour (Syria) 82kg.
Maryna Kopiika (Ukraine) (no lift, three attempts).
Leidy Rodriguez (Cuba) (no lift, three attempts).
Athletics
Courtesy:Olympics
Kenya’s only medal, a bronze, came through Nancy Chelangat Koech in the 1,500m T11 final.
It was the second time Kenya had won a single medal in the event, the first being in the inaugural edition in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1972, when John Britton won gold in swimming.
Precious bronze for Kenya
1,500m T11 (athletes with complete or severe visual impairment)
Ran under hot and humid conditions at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, Kenya’s representatives battled stifling heat, only for Nancy Chelangat Koech, guided by Geoffrey Kiplangat, to make it to the final. Despite Mary Waithera Njoroge, guided by Bernard Korir, finishing third in Heat 1 with a personal best of 4:52.54, she did not make it to the final. Chelangat, who had finished fourth in Heat 2, reached the final, thanks to a faster time of 4:51.68.
Chelangat, together with her elder brother Kiplangat, would deliver Kenya’s only medal – a bronze – in a season best of 4:45.58.
1,500m T11 (athletes with complete or severe visual impairment)
Eric Kiptoo Sang (Guide, David Korir) and Wilson Bii (Guide, Robert Tarus) found themselves without the company of record holder Samwel Mushai. Wilson Bii and his guide were disqualified for violating rule 6.15.4b relating to the minimum and maximum length of the guiding loop that must be observed and respected at all times during the races for Track and Road Events. Sang (4:32.73) proceeded to the final after a successful appeal, following a crash involving Brazilian guide Lutimar Paes Abreu for athlete Julio Cesar dos Santos Agripino. The crash, however, cost Sang his guide Korir, who suffered cuts during the fall. Replacement of the guide in the final impacted Sang’s title challenge as he finished sixth in 4:21.53, with Brazilian Yeltsin Jacques carting away the gold and Mushai’s World Record as he re-set it at 3:57.60.
1,500m T46 (people with a single, below or above the elbow, amputation)
Felix Kipruto was the only entrant to this event. His class does not require a guide as his impairment is physical after he fractured his right hand in three places at the age of 11. Kipruto’s campaign ended despite setting a personal best of 3:59.98 in the heats.
5000m T11 (Final) (athletes with complete or severe visual impairment)
Wilson Bii, guided by Robert Tarus, had hoped to improve on the bronze medal he won at Rio 2016, but those dreams turned into a nightmare under the Tokyo heat as he finished sixth in 17:31.73. Debutante Rodgers Kiprop, guided by Alpha Malinga, looked to be in the right frame to challenge for honours but wilted to finish fourth in a personal best time of 15:27.06.
1,500m T12 (athletes with a higher visual acuity than T11 athletes)
Nelly Nasimiyu Munialo was Kenya’s only representative in this category. Guided by Erick Kirui, she did not make the final after she was disqualified for infringing rule 7.9.3 of Paralympics regulations, in which the athlete and the accompanying guide-runner shall retain the tether attachment from start to finish.
Kenya’s performance at the Paralympics
Nelly Munialo (right) and guide Erick Kirui participate in the paralympics games 2021. A contingent of 54 athletes and officials represented Kenya in the Paralympic games in Tokyo. Kenya first participated in the Paralympic games in 1972 and this will be the 22nd time the country is joining other countries in the competition. /Olympic
1972 (Heidelberg, West Germany): One gold, no silver, no bronze;
Projects under the five-year MTP III are clustered under four main pillars, hence the term Big 4. These are Manufacturing, Food Security and Nutrition, Universal Health Coverage – Affordable Healthcare for All – and Affordable Housing for both low and middle income earners.
Manufacturing
Ports, Roads and Rails
Construction of the first three berths of the second commercial port in Lamu is now complete with one container yard ready for operations. The port is set to create job opportunities linked to the port operations both directly and indirectly.
The LAPSSET Corridor Programme
East Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project, brings together Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. It has seven key initiatives with a total cost of over US $13bn.
Arguably Kenya’s most ambitious venture, the Ksh2 trillion Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPPSET) Corridor project will boost economic activities and double the country’s GDP.
Key components include Lamu Port, Lamu-Ethiopia-South Sudan highway, Lamu-Juba-Addis Ababa railway, an oil refinery and a 2,240km pipeline linking oil fields in South Sudan to the refinery at Lamu Port.
Kenya Standard Gauge Railway
The 969 km standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Malaba is among the largest and most ambitious transport infrastructure projects in Africa.
Phase I of the project, which is 472km from Mombasa to Nairobi, is complete as is Phase 2A from Nairobi to Naivasha (120km). The section to Kisumu is still pending.
Mombasa Port Expansion
It includes Phase II of the second container terminal at the Mombasa Port.
Nairobi Expressway
Proper planning for future infrastructure development has proven key in the construction of Kenya’s first Expressway. Connecting the Northern and Southern districts of Nairobi, the 18 kilometre, two-way, four-lane road is expected to not only ease traffic but also boost business in the city.
Decongestion of the Northern Corridor, running through the centre of Nairobi, is critical to the city‘s future. Construction is underway on the 27km highway to ease costly traffic congestion in Nairobi. China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is the contractor and the Expressway runs from Mlolongo to JKIA and through the city centre, to James Gichuru road junction in Westlands. CRBC is building the road on a public-private partnership (PPP) and a concession period of 30 years that includes three years of construction.
Standard Gauge Railway
This iconic multi-modal urban development will be located inside the 200-acre prime property that currently serves as the Nairobi Railway Station as part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Plan (NIUPLAN) for expanding the city’s Central Business District.
The Kenya Railways (KR) has partnered with the Nairobi City County Government (NCCG) and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, in the project.
This exciting initiative will be implemented in three phases. The first stage will see the construction of meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) facilities along Bunyala Road in Nairobi.
Phase two will include construction of an economic zone comprising hi-tech industries and small and medium enterprises.
The final phase is the building of an affordable housing complex that will include a school, park, and affordable housing units. The Railway City will be integrated to the Nairobi Expressway, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and the Nairobi Commuter Rail Service.
A special purpose vehicle to spearhead the project called Railway City Development Authority (RCDA) has been created to spearhead the initiative, including identifying anchor projects and investors.
Kisumu Port Rehabilitation
As part of the Kisumu port facility rehabilitation that includes an Oil jetty, Kenya Pipeline Corporation has installed 14 tanks with a capacity of 70 million liters of petroleum products, making it larger than the Kisumu and Eldoret depots. The jetty is designed to enable seamless availability of petroleum products to neighboring countries.
As per the National Economic Survey 2020, the refurbished Port of Kisumu processed 62 percent more cargo in 2019, largely due to increased trade with neighbouring East African Community countries and better efficiency and a surge in trade — new statistics show.
This has established Kisumu port as the hub for inland EA trade in the Great Lakes Region.
Not only has the volume of cargo handled at the revamped port increased, but so has the number of vessels visiting the port, up by 116 percent in 2019.
Energy
Kipevu Oil Terminal
The facility, whose construction is underway in Mombasa, will be ready by August next year — enabling bigger volumes of fuel products to move in and out of Kenya.
On completion, the New Kipevu Oil Terminal will have four berths capable of handling the importation and exportation of crude oil, heavy fuel oil, aviation fuel, petrol, and diesel.
Technology
Konza Technopolis
H.E Uhuru Kenyatta during the official opening of the Konza Technopolis Development Authority headquarters.
Konza Technology City is a smart city project 64km south of the capital Nairobi, on 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, in Machakos County.
Part of Kenya’s Vision 2030 blueprint, it is projected to create about 17,000 direct high-value jobs, and 68,000 indirect jobs, once completed.
The project is modelled on the US Silicon Valley, hence the moniker “African Silicon Savanna”.
It targets business process outsourcing, software development, data centres, disaster recovery centres, call centres, light manufacturing industries, and research institutions. The project’s cost is US$ 14.5 billion.
Designed as a world-class technology hub, Konza is projected to host a vibrant mix of businesses, workers, residents, and urban amenities.
The plan for Konza includes urban amenities, friendly and tech-ready neighborhoods, access to parks and recreation, transit-oriented development and varied retail and restaurants options.
It will host data centers, technology and life science facilities, commercial office space, hotels, convention centers, educational institutions, and community support services.
Food Security and Nutrition
Galana/Kulalu Project
Hosted by two counties, Kilifi and Tana River, the project seeks to bring down the price of Kenya’s staple food (maize) and boost local production of sugar, fruits, beef, dairy products, fish, poultry and honey.
This involves development of physical infrastructure for viable and economic utilisation of the natural resources available within, or accessible to the area making up the Galana and Kulalu Ranches, including but not limited to water storage, water conveyance and distribution, irrigation, livestock production, aquaculture, road network, land development, eco-tourism, among others.
The project covers 1.75 million acres of public land on the lower River Athi/Galana/Sabaki basin for investments in irrigation, livestock and fisheries enterprises with related social infrastructure such as production storage, processing and marketing equipment. There is a land-use plan to guide sustainable utilisation of natural resources. The main land uses are urban and agriculture. Despite some “teething problems” the project remains on course.
Development of Lake Turkana Fishery and Post- Harvest Operations
The project will increase aquaculture productivity and incomes of aquaculture farmers and other stakeholders.
It will be implemented in schools, mariculture development along the Kenyan coastline, cage culture systems in fish farms and water bodies, and model pilot Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS).
The project will also entail construction and development of an International Nile Perch Research Centre at Kabonyo in Kisumu for research on reproduction, nutrition and genetic variation factors of Nile perch for future restocking of Lake Victoria.
Lower Turkwel Irrigation Project
It was conceived as a multi-purpose initiative to develop dams to store water for hydropower generation, develop irrigation infrastructure for 30,000Ha for sugarcane production and for food production in the downstream areas, consumption for both households and livestock, environmental conservation, fisheries and tourist development.
To date, a dam has been developed with a capacity of 1.6 billion m3 of water and is currently being used by KenGen to produce 106MW of electricity that is fed into the national grid.
Integrated Fish Resources Development Project
Coast Development Authority (CDA) aims to improve the livelihoods of the local fishermen and the community on the coastline of Kenya through the Integrated Fish Resources Development Project.
This project intends to implement various components in an integrated manner, including rehabilitation of fish habitat, fish farming and breeding, fish harvesting, fish processing and value addition, marketing and market linkages and community support.
Koin-Soru Dam
Feasibility study is ready and the designs finalised. The process of public participation is complete but negotiations on compensation for people to be displaced by the dam are ongoing.
It will end perennial flooding caused by River Nyando downstream and provide water for domestic use and irrigation, as well as 2MW of electricity. It will be located 5km upstream of River Nyando from Muhoroni town on 2,500 acres of land.
Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Programme
As a key contributor to the Big 4 Agenda and a Vision 2030 flagship project, Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Programme will ensure access to safe drinking water, healthy meal preparation, proper sanitation, and health and industrialisation for the residents of Makueni, Kitui, and parts of Machakos.
The programme comprises a multi-purpose dam for water supply, hydropower generation and irrigation development. In Phase 1, the programme will increase water security by providing 681 million cubic metres (MCM) of water storage for human consumption, power generation and upstream and downstream irrigation and conservation.
The target population will benefit from an abundant supply of potable water, which will lead to improved health and spur economic development throughout the area and in Konza City.
Construction is underway on the Ksh82 billion dam on the border of Kitui and Makueni. Jointly funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the project will be implemented in four phases at a cost of Ksh81.89 billion.
Universal Health Coverage — Affordable Healthcare for All
Kenyatta National Hospital multidisciplinary team of medical specialists participating in a urological medical camp in Kitui County. The camp carried out in four hospitals saw at least 109 patients undergo a prostate enlargement a minimally invasive surgery (urethroplasty). The doctors as well undertook surgeries relating to urethral blockage on 73 others. These surgeries under normal circumstances cost Sh300,000 but the annual medical camp under the Kenya Association of Urological Surgeons (KAUS) umbrella body through their CSR initiative carried them out for free.
Piloting of UHC began in 2018 in four counties, with a programme that eased access to health services for millions of people.
Since then, over 200 community health units were created, with 7,700 community health volunteers and over 700 health workers recruited.
The first year of the pilot phase saw over 1.6 million more hospital visits recorded.
The abolition of all fees at local and secondary level [county referral] health facilities widely expanded access to health services in the four pilot counties that were selected because of a high prevalence of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, high population density, high maternal mortality, and high incidence of road traffic injuries.
The Government is now working to accelerate staff recruitment, develop better links between local and higher-level health facilities, improve funding delivery timings, and supply of medical commodities as well as coordination and management.
The focus is also on reforming the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), establish a mandatory universal health coverage scheme, adopt an essential package of health services, and provide health coverage for 1 million low-income households to be biometrically registered.
Investments during the first phase of the UHC have helped in the COVID-19 response, and more health personnel have been hired to help curb the spread of the epidemic, which has severely strained health systems across the region, and disrupted the provision of essential health services.
Affordable Housing
The State Department for Housing and Urban Development lists several projects on its website under the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP).
Park Road is the first development promoted by Government under the Affordable Housing Programme. This integrated human settlement project is located in Ngara area of the City of Nairobi, and consists of 1,370 housing units.
Mavoko Sustainable Housing Programme will see the provision of 463 units and includes various social amenities.
Further project details are available from the National Housing Corporation, and units have been available for selection since mid-2020.
Kibera Soweto East Zone B will see redevelopment with the construction of residential units of one, two and three bedrooms in highrise blocks of 12 floors. The Government through the Slum Upgrading Department is in the process of planning for the redevelopment of Kibera Soweto East Zone ‘B’.
The department has targeted to develop 3,000 housing units and other social amenities in the 3.5 ha piece of land demarcated as Zone ‘B’.
At Stoni Athi View, off the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, the National Housing Corporation (NHC) has built economy-block rental units. The project is located a kilometre from the Kenya Meat Commission factory, 20km from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), 3km from the Export Processing Zone (EPZ), and multiple manufacturing facilities.
In the same site, NHC has built spacious four-bedroom, semi-detached maisonettes in an excellently planned gated community with a safe boundary wall, well landscaped greenery and open play courts for children and a panoramic view of Stoni Athi Dam and River Stoni Athi.
In Nairobi, the Starehe Affordable Housing Project is approximately 2.5km from the Nairobi CBD, in the eastern zone of the county. It is envisioned as a mixed-use development with social, common and housing amenities, and a development potential of 3,000 units of various types.
Another initiative is the Pangani Affordable Housing Project initiated by the Nairobi City County Government in partnership with Tecnofin Kenya Limited to renew and re- create Pangani Estate.
It is the premiere PPP (Public Private Partnership) Venture under the Affordable Housing Pillar of the Big 4 Agenda, dubbed Boma Yangu.
Construction is currently ongoing. When complete, the project will have 1,562 units with mixed elements of amenities in the commercial space to cater to residents.
Kitui County Affordable Housing Project, Kalawa Road, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Kitui County Government and Tecnofin Kenya Ltd, a local real estate company.
It is located along Kalawa Road, opposite WARMA offices, right within Kitui town.
The project is in line with President Kenyatta’s Big 4 agenda; Pillar 4 on Affordable Housing.
Finally, in Kitui County, is the Kalawa Housing Programme that will provide comfortable, modern housing with an unobstructed view of Nzambani Rock, flexible payment terms, proximity to Kitui town and other social amenities such as schools and hospitals.
This is an abridged version of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s speech marking Kenya’s 58th Madaraka Day in Kisumu. The speech captures the full spirit and vision of the Big 4 Agenda and Kenya’s Vision 2030 social and economic development blueprint. The choice of Kisumu to host Madaraka Day this year was intertwined with our national heritage, for there cannot be a better place to celebrate our liberation struggle and ponder the future of our self-rule than Kisumu City.
Kisumu is not only the historical hub of East African Co-operation; it is also the intellectual incubator of some of the leading ideas behind our liberation movement. The national motto of “Harambee”, even though an import from India, was, for instance, introduced as a political rallying call in Kisumu City during the 1950s. After independence, our Founding Fathers popularised it as the national mantra of “Pulling Together”. Similarly, and led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kisumu was the epicenter of the push to release Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the “Kapenguria Six” from their illegal detention by the colonisers.
Furthermore, during the detention of those liberation heroes at Kapenguria, union leaders from this region joined other Kenyans and quickly stepped into the gap to ensure that the liberation momentum was not lost. It was pre-independence leaders from this region who taught us that attaining self-rule was not a one-man race. Rather, it was a relay in which, if one set of runners fell out, another set was ready to continue the race.
With such a well-appointed history of the struggle, and the history of reconciliation, there is no a better place to commemorate Madaraka Day than Kisumu City.
Let us recall some of the principles of nationhood from the Founding Fathers of this nation.
One, they taught us that a progressive nation is one that is in continuous conversation with itself. This is because nationhood is a negotiated process that needs constant alignments and adjustments in the pursuit of perfection. The architects of Madaraka, however, warned us that in making such adjustments and alignments, we must avoid the ‘paralysis of constitutional rigidity’.
Two, they taught us that self-rule is not an end in itself; it is a means to a greater end. Indeed, as T. J. Mboya once said, “…Only through freedom and human rights could a people cooperate fully with their government”. But for freedom and human rights to be realised, the paradox of choices must be resolved.
Three, they revealed the paradox when they emphasised that self-rule is the granting of opportunities, accompanied by the burden of choice. Every opportunity in the exercise of freedoms and self-rule, must be tempered by the consequences of choice.
Every right granted must have a corresponding responsibility. And those who enjoy opportunities, but neglect the burden of choice, cannot be said to be truly free. This paradox of choices and freedoms applies to both individuals and institutions.
Based on some of these teachings, we have built one of the most robust democracies in Africa. The fields of individual freedoms have expanded and citizen participation has become emboldened. Our independent institutions have also occupied their rightful positions, and all of this is because of the 2010 Constitution. And as I have said in the past, ours is probably the most progressive constitution in the continent of Africa and the world. However, whereas the 2010 Constitution expanded our individual fields of freedom, it also expanded the burden of the choices we make. Even our Founding Fathers urged the liberated patriots to shift from the status of being subjects to that of citizens when their fields of freedom were expanded.
They made it clear that a citizen is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with freedom; while a subject will squander opportunities granted by self-rule and refuse to shoulder the burden of their choices. Similarly, the framers of the 2010 Constitution did not envisage a situation where the expanded fields of rights resulted in diminished responsibility by citizens and institutions. They saw a balance between freedoms and the consequences of choice.
But this balance is probably most challenged by the growth of our independent institutions. Their growth has stretched our democratic boundaries to the limit; but it has not cracked them. It has bent the will of the people; but it has not broken it. In fact, any other African country experiencing the political turns and twists we have experienced in the search for greater perfection in our nationhood would have burst asunder.
What are the consequences of choice?
If the citizens are required to exercise their will and shoulder the burden of their choices, should the independent institutions not do likewise? Shouldn’t their decisions also be accompanied by a burden of choice? These are the questions our national conversation should objectively ponder.
BBI is meant to build bridges, create inclusive politics, and end ethnic majoritarianism. Without BBI, who carries the burden of choice? On whose shoulders will ethnic majoritarianism rest? And who will carry the burden of losing 30 percent of our national budget every five years due to the toxic politics that BBI seeks to resolve?
Can Kenya truly be a democracy if the people are denied the opportunity to express their sovereign and supreme choice at the ballot box, on the basis of elevating technicalities over the overriding objectives of law? Our Constitution is not a yoke around our necks. Rather, it is a mighty sword that can break the chains that limit us.
I wish to remind us of an instruction left behind by the Founding Father of our nation, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. He said: “…Our children, born and unborn, may learn about the heroes of the past. But our present task is to make ourselves the architects of the future”.
This was a call to action. It was a call to predict the future by creating it. And against this background, the national question of the moment must be posed.
If, indeed, freedom is nothing but an opportunity to become better, how have we enriched what the Founding Fathers placed in our custody? Have we made it better than we found it? And has Kenya occupied its rightful place in the society of nations as a result of our improvements?
That is the national question of the day. And in response to this question, I will use the “Four Frames” of our liberation struggle that have informed my administration.
The first frame is economic. This frame is informed by the notion that political freedom in the absence of economic freedom is nothing but an illusion. Given that the Founding Fathers stood for economic inclusion and the administration before mine was about economic recovery; my administration has embraced the maxim of economic acceleration.
Economic acceleration, in my administration, is about increasing the speed of achieving our national goals. We have increased this speed at the national, county, and individual levels.
At the national level, the colonisers left us with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — the measure for the national cake — of close to Ksh 6.4 billion in 1963 at the exchange rate of that time. After 74 years of colonial occupation, this is what Kenya was worth every year. Then the combined administrations of Mzee Kenyatta, Mzee Daniel arap Moi and Mzee Mwai Kibaki increased this national cake to Ksh 4.5 trillion. And they did this in a span of 50 years.
But in only eight years, my administration has doubled what the colonisers and the first three administrations did in 128 years. Our national cake, or our annual worth as a country every year, is now at Ksh 10.3 trillion. Even if you factor in inflation, our economic acceleration programme has multiplied what the Founding Fathers left in our custody.
At the county level, we have allocated Ksh 2.3 trillion to counties. This is equivalent to about 16 percent of our current GDP. What this means is that, we have sent to the counties the equivalent of what our national cake was between 1885 when the colonisers came to Kenya and when President Moi retired in 2002. We have achieved this in a mere seven years.
The BBI dream is to send even more resources to the counties to catalyse their accelerated development. That is why we have proposed, under the BBI, to send 35 percent of our national revenue to counties.
At the individual level, our economic acceleration initiative has focused on the allocation of title deeds. I am proud to say that; we have accelerated land adjudication in a way that is unprecedented. The previous administrations issued six million title deeds in 50 years; but my administration has issued 5.1 million title deeds in seven years only. On a pro rata basis, this is seven times what previous administrations had done combined.
I am happy to note that close to 20 percent of the titles we have issued are in the Nyanza region. In fact, most of them are in Kisumu County. The title deed is what our Founding Fathers fought for when they made land ownership a central plank of our independence struggle. And by accelerating land adjudication and settlement, my intention is to give security of tenure to as many Kenyans as possible.
The second frame is what I call, “the Big Push Investments”. Our Founding Fathers laid the foundation for the future they dreamt of. Then they dared us to build that future by doing big things. But on this, they also cautioned us that, to do big things, you cannot be distracted by small things.
The Big Push Investments are about laying the ground for our economic take-off. Many Kenyans have asked why my administration is investing in big infrastructure projects. Why the roads, the rails, and the ports? And my answer to this question is simple. When Cecil Rhodes, the British coloniser, and his brothers dreamt of a road from Cape Town to Cairo, their vision was not the road. The road was not the dream. The dream was what the road would do for them.
In the same vein, our brick-and-mortar investments of roads, rail and ports are NOT the dream. The dream is what the “Big Push Investments” will do for Kenya; and how they will transform our standing in the community of nations. And form the basis of national prosperity and creation of decent and steady jobs for our people.
Take the Lamu Port. It is the first Port to be built in Kenya since the Port of Mombasa in 1896. For 115 years, no government has built a deep-sea port on the East African Coast of the Indian Ocean. Kenya is the first country to do so. Similarly, the history of this port dates back to 1972 when the idea was hatched. It took 49 years for us to conceptualise and mull this port; but it took just eight years to make it a reality.
Once it is operational, Kenya will have claimed its stake in the Indian Ocean real estate. The Port of Lamu will be able to handle ships the size of those that transit through the Suez Canal. And this capacity will not only increase our trans-shipment business, but will also impact over 130 million residents of the Eastern African region.
Another Big Push Investment we have engaged in is the revival of dead capitals. And we have done this because the instructions of our Founding Fathers were to take care of what they had built.
In this regard, we have revived 566km of the dead Metre Gauge Railway. The revived 200km Nairobi-Nanyuki railway will be a game changer. Every trip, the train will transport 1,600 passengers, which is equivalent to a convoy of 120 matatus. And the cost per passenger will be Ksh 200 compared to Ksh 500 by matatu.
Although it takes a little longer by train, the passenger will make a 60 percent saving using the revived train system; all while travelling at greater comfort and assured safety. Further, moving our tea and coffee through this line at greatly reduced costs, will result in more shillings in the pockets of our hard working farmers.
But the most uplifting story of the revived dead capitals is our Big Push Investment in the Port of Kisumu and the reconditioning of the MV Uhuru vessel. I will not talk about the jobs this has created and the business buzz it has evoked in Kisumu. Those are obvious. I will talk about the economics of this decision.
To transport fuel by road from Kisumu to Uganda takes 72 hours because of the long queues at the Malaba border. But to transport fuel from the Port of Kisumu to Port Bell in Uganda by ship takes only 12 hours. This means that by the time a tanker makes one trip to Uganda by road, the MV Uhuru Ship will have made six trips.
Then there is the question of volume. One tanker carries 20,000 litres of fuel; but one wagon aboard MV Uhuru carries 60,000 litres, which is three times the size of a tanker.
If the ship accommodates 22 wagons, each voyage it makes to Port Bell is an equivalent of a convoy of 66 tankers headed to Uganda.
What is more: If it costs US$ 35 to transport 1,000 litres of fuel by road per kilometre, it costs US$ 16 to transport the same through the Port of Kisumu. For every US$2 spent transporting fuel to Uganda by road, you spend only US$1 through the port. Further, the fuel lost by road transport was estimated to be worth Ksh 6 billion per year. Today, by transporting through rail, this amount has been reduced to zero, while fuel adulteration is a thing of the past.
And for those asking why we have made the Big Push Investment in the Port of Kisumu, there is your answer. If it takes one-sixth of the time to transport goods by ship compared with road transport, it is good for traders and also for investors, making our region that much more competitive globally.
If in one trip you carry three times the volume by ship compared with tankers, that is good for commerce. And if it costs you half the price to use the Port of Kisumu compared with road transportation, that is good economics. Indeed, all our Big Push Investments have been conceived to catalyse the economy and to provide the most rational choices for all actors.
The third frame I want us to ponder over this Madaraka Day is that of the restoration of dignity. Our Founding Fathers defined ‘dignity’ as ‘freedom from want’. From the outset, liberation from the ‘poverty of dignity’ was a central motif of our independence struggle. Indeed, our Founding Fathers taught us that self-rule will not be fully attained until self-worth is restored. And the national question we must ask this afternoon is whether we are on track in liberating our people from the poverty of dignity. To what extent have we liberated them from ‘want’?
Article 23 and Article 43 of our Constitution make the restoration of dignity a continuous process rather than a one-off activity. And the question this Madaraka Day is, how well we have rendered this aspect of our freedom.
Some may ask what ‘poverty of dignity’ is and I will explain. Before we started the Big Push Investments in Nairobi under the Nairobi Metropolitan Service, there was only one clinic with 15 beds serving 500,000 residents of Mukuru Informal Settlement. When a mother delivered a baby in Mukuru, she had less than one hour of post-natal care before being asked to leave to make way for the next patient. This is poverty of dignity. We fixed this indignity by building 25 hospitals in the informal settlements of Nairobi in a mere 100 days.
Let me give another example. When a patient suffering from kidney disease had to travel 70 kilometres from Siaya to Kisumu three times a week for dialysis, that was a tragic indignity. But this tragedy of indignity was made worse because this patient needed 10 dialysis sessions a month. If one session costs between Ksh 9,000 and Ksh 16,000, it meant that the patient had to spend between Ksh 90,000 and Ksh 160,000 every month. Such patients had to sell their ancestral inheritance, such as land, in order to get treatment. The net effect of this was that their illness ended up disinheriting their families and indignifying the generations to come. This is what poverty of dignity looks like.
But today, I am happy to note that the patient from Siaya does not have to travel for 70 kilometres to Kisumu for treatment. There are dialysis machines in Siaya at the sub-county level. Similarly, he does not have to pay Ksh 160,000 a month for dialysis or sell his ancestral land. All he needs to do is to spend Ksh 500 a month on a NHIF card. This card gives him free dialysis every month.
If dignity is ‘freedom from want’, then we have restored it using our health interventions; in fact, we have accelerated it. I say so because, between 1963 and 1978, as a country, we had only one renal unit and one dialysis machine. President Moi added one more and President Kibaki added four more renal units. By the time my administration took over, we had only six renal units for the entire country.
Today, and in only six years, we have 54 renal units with 360 state-of-the-art dialysis machines distributed among all 47 counties. Coupled with the NHIF card, this uprated health infrastructure has restored the dignity of families previously condemned to disinherit their children because of disease.
The dignity of families is supported by sustainable livelihoods. It is for this reason that my administration’s agenda continues to focus on creating an enabling environment that offers every Kenyan an opportunity to participate in the economy. Over the years Micro, Small and Medium Business Enterprises have turned to be a breeding ground for indigenous industries. Because of this remarkable expansion, their contribution to national development continues to grow from strength to strength; and they are today the greatest engines of employment creation in our nation.
The development of the 1,000-acre Kisumu Special Economic Zone will provide immense opportunities for value addition of agricultural products, for the entirety of the western region and enhance the Blue Economy activities of the Lake Victoria basin. The dignity we seek to restore through sustainable livelihoods will give every Kenyan an opportunity to participate in economic development. For instance, to address the inequity in tendering for contracts by the Jua Kali artisans and craftsmen, due to their lack of certification and to secure opportunities for them, I am announcing today a new initiative by my administration to provide a framework for recognition of the skills through awards of certificates, based on competence, to better enable them participate in various economic opportunities.
Now I will end very briefly with the fourth frame of our National Question this Madaraka Day. For us to secure what we have achieved in 58 years, we must not make politics the heat and light of our national existence.
Instead, we must endeavour to pursue political stabilisation by any means necessary. I say so because stability is the life-blood of our republic. What we have built for 58 years, can be destroyed in one day of political instability. But we cannot engage in political stabilisation if we live in political denial.
For instance, everyone knows that BBI is good. It is good for our country. It is even good for those unhappy with it.
But too many Kenyans have embraced fear of change over the need to continuously strive for a fairer, just, peaceful, cohesive, and democratic Kenya.
They oppose BBI not because of its substance; which even its harshest critics concede is good, but because, unlike our Founding Fathers, they cannot dare imagine a better Kenya for all.
The spirit of the law is the light that will illuminate the burden of the choices made by independent institutions of government and political stabilisation will be easy to achieve.
As for the political elite, if we remain short-termism and self-serving, the consequences of our choices will become a permanent burden on our people. Let it be clear to all Kenyans, short-termism is not the path to political stabilisation.
Our Founding Fathers encouraged the liberated patriots to upgrade from the status of being subjects to that of being citizens by embracing freedom with responsibility. I want to make a similar invitation to our political class this Madaraka Day. I want to invite them to upgrade their status from being politicians to being leaders. Politicians are obsessed with personal gain; but it is our national pain that should disturb them.
I have illuminated just a fraction of what my administration has done, for that is not what is important. What is important is the recognition of what those who went before us did. We have only built on that foundation with the full recognition that we are still a long way to achieving all the hopes and aspirations of our people.
But, like our forefathers, we live in the hope that future administrations will not seek to live in acrimony and division; not to destroy but to build on our achievements and reach even greater heights, so that we can truly live the vision of Kenya as articulated by our fore fathers. That the task before us is not for today, but for enhanced and proper architecture of the future.
This is why I want to thank the Right Honourable Raila Odinga for embracing our national pain over his personal gain, when we did the Handshake. What is more: he did this without asking or demanding anything from me. That is why, it has been a great pleasure working with him. And whatever the future holds, I look forward to working with him and all Kenyans to build a better, brighter, more united and prosperous Kenya, East Africa and Africa.
Kisumu City will in May 2022, play host to the largest Africities Summit ever hosted in Kenya. That event will be a gathering that will feature ministers, mayors and leaders of local authorities, representatives of civil society, the private sector, academia, national, regional, and international financial institutions, development partners, and other stakeholders.
My administration will extend to the County Government of Kisumu every support to showcase Kenya and Kisumu to Africa and the rest of the world.
Ministry of Housing Civil Servants Housing Scheme (CSHS) Kilimani Apartments based in Kilimani, Nairobi County. The Government through the Big 4 Agenda has been pushing for home ownership in order to ensure that Kenyans achieve the realization of dream of homeownership, enhanced lifestyle associated with homeownership such as greater community and school involvement and quality of life, increased job satisfaction and loyalty to employer, the possibility of reducing commuting time and investment in a home with possible equity appreciation over time.
Since 2017 the Government has pursued a policy to create 500,000 new homeowners through the facilitation of affordable housing under the Big 4 Agenda. The programme ensures that working families can afford decent low-cost homes by reducing the cost of construction and offering them affordable mortgages.
Through the website, Boma Yangu all Kenyans can see the AHP projects being undertaken by the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, some of them in partnership with the private sector.
They can also register for free through the website link http://bomayangu.go.ke/ to own an affordable home. The only requirement is that one must be a Kenyan national aged 18 years and above.
Registration can be done at Huduma centres across the country. The cost of the units under the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) range from KShs800,000 for a bedsitter to KShs 3 million for a three-bedroomed house.
The National Government has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with 24 Counties for development of at least 2,000 housing units in each county. Five Counties have already identified land for comprehensive planning and project implementation.
AHP is being delivered in phases starting with some flagship projects before being scaled up towards delivery of the 500,000 units across all the counties. It targets civil servants and Kenyans in the low income bracket who were previously excluded from owning decent homes due to prohibitive costs of construction and mortgages.
According to the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, over 74 percent of Kenyans in employment earn less than KShs 50,000 per month and thus can only pay a maximum of KShs 20,000 as mortgage monthly with the average price of mortgage houses in the private housing market averaging KShs 9 million.
AHP includes Social Housing for those earning up to KShs19, 999 per month Low Cost Housing for those taking home between KShs 20,000 to KShs 49,999 per month. Mortgage Gap Housing will cater for those earning between KShs 50, 000 and KShs149, 999 per month while Middle to high income housing will cater for those whose monthly income is KShs150, 000 and above.
Kirinyaga County will benefit from 200 affordable housing units to alleviate the shortage of decent houses in the area under a KShs 500 million program by NHC.
Ongoing production of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) at the EPS National housing corporation/eps factory. The EPS Panels are single piece factory engineered units comprising of two metal wires bonded to a fully insulating EPS Core. The Panels acts compositely when under load, in most cases providing free standing (partitioning walls) and load bearing capabilities. The panels have been used in Kenya for about the last 20 years. The first project was done at the KHIBIT offices industrial area Nairobi in the year 1996, the Baronzi Estate, a gated community at Muthaiga North – Nairobi was constructed in the year 2000, the new expansion wing of silver spring hotel Nairobi was put up in the year 2000. NHC has managed to have multi-storey commercial building in various parts of the country (opp TRM Mall at Thika road, Nakuru, Luxury apartments for sale at Kanduyi area – Bungoma county, Luxury apartments for sale opposite Nazarene University, Rongai – Nairobi, a gated community in Kisumu) schools projects, offices, Go-downs in various parts of the country, residential homes in Karen, Muthaiga North etc.
Cost-effective options in materials and construction will be deployed to keep the units affordable but decent. They include expanded polystyrene technology which is easy to apply. The technology is being used to construct KShs 20 billion housing units at Mavoko where the supplier is located.
Kisumu County launched a n AHP project for 3000 units with 1,700 units already under construction in Makasembo and 1,300 units in Anderson estates in the urban areas of the lakeside city.
The county has also partnered with the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND), a retirement benefits scheme catering for employees of County Governments, water companies, and other associated organisations, to construct modern and affordable houses in Lumumba and Makasembo estates.
In Nakuru County, the construction of 600 AHP houses is ongoing under a joint partnership with the National Government and the World Bank. The project is in addition to 2,400 houses being built in n
Construction of the houses follows rising demand as local steel and cement manufacturers, animal feed makers and dairy firms set up shop in the Salgaa industrial zone.
The restoration of the old Meter Gauge Railways and its linkup with the Standard Gauge Railway at Mai Mahiu, the inland dry port, a business park established by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and an industrial park set up by Oserian Company are expected to spark even more demand for housing.
The AHP houses in Nakuru will be built on a 10 acre-land in Bondeni Estate within Nakuru Town East Sub-County while those in Naivasha are being constructed on a 55-acre plot of land along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway near GK Prisons.
As Nakuru and Naivasha are homes to a multibillion-shilling flourishing horticultural sector, a thriving hospitality industry, and fast rising to a commercial hub in East Africa, obviously, the demand for
Over 26 per cent of Kenyans live in cities and towns and the urban population is growing at a rate of 4.2 per cent every year,” said Kinyanjui.
Annual demand in Kenya for affordable housing for the middle and low income earners is 170,000 units, yet a mere 1,000 units are built every year. Kenya has only 25,000 housing mortgages catering for a population of over 40 million people.
Of the mortgages, 17,000 are not market-based as they have been advanced to individuals by their employers. The World Bank selected Nakuru to pilot the AHP because the city has the critical infrastructure needed for construction.
A report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2020 detailed that many landlords were shifting focus to building smaller and affordable houses as demand increases, land space diminishes and the cost of living rises.
The National Government established the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC), which works with the banking sector and the cooperative movement through SACCOs, to make available affordable mortgages finance for those wishing to own a home. KMRC will help to extend the tenure of housing loans from the current average of seven years to at least 20 years.
In Kiambu, the KShs 11 billion Samara housing project in Migaa has kicked off as a public private partnership with Safaricom and Shelter Afrique and is expected to have 1,920 housing units.
The units will be priced as low as KShs 1 million for Kenyans earning below KShs 20,000.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNEBS) data shows that 92 per cent of people in Nairobi rent houses because they cannot just afford to buy their own.
In Nairobi the AHP pilot project of 1,370 housing units at Park Road in Ngara has been completed. The National Housing Development Fund is mobilising resources to fund housing projects in Mavoko and NHC Stoni Athi, which are at various stages of completion.
The construction of 25,965 affordable housing units in Starehe (3,360), Shauri Moyo (4,470), Kibera Zone B (4,435) and Mukuru (13,700) will begin soon as investors have been identified.
NHC is building 10,500 homes dubbed, Stoni Athi Waterfront City in Athi River, Mavoko Sub-County on a 150-acre land at a cost of Sh20 billion. The houses, which target low, middle, and high-income earners, will be multipurpose units varying from residential, commercial, recreational facilities, schools and hospitals.
Model of the Pangani Housing Development project. The Housing Project sits on 5 acres of land, comprising of residential housing units, market place, 3 level parking, a recreational area, and a jogging track. /NMS
The Mavoko project comprises of 5,000 affordable housing units costing between KShs1 million and KShs 3 million per unit, and 5,500 units targeting middle and upper-income households for between KShs 2 million and KShs 8 million a unit. The Government has built over 186,000 housing units across the country in the past eight years as part of the efforts to provide decent housing for Kenyans.
NHC will also be developing 5,000 housing units in Konza Techno City. NHC will embrace innovative options such as joint ventures and others to unlock the housing challenge.
In September 2021, Government commissioned the construction of 2,235 AHP units in Pangani, Nairobi County. In December 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Habitat Heights at Lukenya as part of AHP which have been constructed under a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Department for Housing and Urban Development and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for 100,000 units.
In Mombasa County, the KShs 6 billion Buxton Point is being constructed AHP. The 1900 housing units in Buxton will be available at a mortgage rate of 9 percent or less. A two-bedroom apartment at Buxton Point KShs 3 million compared to Sh6.5 million in the neighboring Tudor environs. One-bedroom unit is KShs 1.8 million and three-bedroom is KShs 4.2 million. Already, 1,253 houses have been sold.
The project will have commercial stalls, a youth venture to nurture local talents, a nursery school, a madrasa and a clinic.
Other estates targeted for rebuilding and AHP in Mombasa County are Changamwe, Likoni flats, Miritini, Tudor, Mzizima and Khadija.
Other AHP Projects
Moke Gardens in Mavoko, Machakos County (built via PPP)
King’s Sapphire – Bondeni Project (Nakuru City)
Buxton Affordable Housing Project (Mombasa City)
Kitui Affordable Housing Kalawa Rd (Kitui Town)
Pangani Affordable Housing Project (a PPP in Nairobi City)
KMRC will provide long term funds to primary housing mortgage providers in the housing sector. It will improve mortgage affordability, increase the number of qualifying borrowers, and result in the expansion of the primary mortgage market and home ownership in Kenya.
The company has so far raised Kshs 2 billion and the National Treasury has mobilised additional Kshs 35 billion from partners to support the company’s operations.
MV Songa Cougar sails into the Port of Lamu on a maiden call. The vessel with a length overall of 147.8 meters loaded 65 TEUs of full containers carrying assorted goods destined for the Port of Jeddah. The Port of Lamu is part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project which is a transport and infrastructure project in Kenya. At completion of the three phases, the Shs 310 billion port will have 32 berths, 29 of which will be financed by the private sector, making it the largest deep-water port in Sub-Saharan Africa./KPA
Good infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity projects will help spur Kenya’s economic growth, enabling Kenyans to run their businesses, generate wealth and create employment. Infrastructure development boosts the economy through linkages with other sectors. Among the key investments is the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and rehabilitation of the old Metre Gauge Railway, roads and ports and enhancing electricity generation. Better transport, and ICT infrastructure stimulates exports and local distribution of goods.
Lamu Port
Recently, President Uhuru Kenyatta officially launched the first berth of the Port of Lamu, which is set to transform the town and archipelago into a major trade and logistics hub, accelerating economic transformation.
The Port of Lamu is a flagship project of the LAPSSET (Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport) Corridor. The launch of Lamu Port on 20th May 2021 has set the LAPSSET ship off, and confirmed that the transport vision has started turning into reality. Witnessing the berthing of Lamu Port’s maiden ship, MV CAP Carmel, and offloading of its cargo to trucks, was a remarkable sight of a dream come true for Kenya, at a place that was once a vast sea and an adjacent hinterland characterised by bushes.
The President also commissioned the Garsen-Witu-Lamu (110km) road, part of the LAPSSET Corridor alternative routes that connect the 10km Lamu Port Access Road to Garissa County. In addition, construction of the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo (Phase 1) road, a major LAPSSET Corridor Highway, is underway. With the construction of roads, travel time has reduced, security enhanced and various investments are being witnessed. The port will stimulate more business sectors, including real estate, hospitality, livestock, manufacturing and the service industry.
The LAPSSET Corridor Project is the largest game changer infrastructure project the government has initiated under the Vision 2030 Strategy Framework. It seeks to foster transport linkage between Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia and promote regional socio-economic development along the transport corridor, especially in the Northern, Eastern, North-Eastern and Coastal parts of Kenya. The LAPSSET Corridor Project covers over half of the country with a planned investment resource equivalent to 50 per cent of Kenya’s GDP for the core investment alone.
Launch of the first berth will transform the town and archipelago into a major trade and logistics centre in the region. The Port of Lamu successfully recorded its maiden trans-shipment cycle, raising its profile on the global map, following the loading of 62 trans-shipment full containers on MV Spirit of Dubai. The smooth cargo handling was enabled by use of integrated customs management systems.
A key component of Kenya’s Vision 2030 strategy, LAPSSET echoes the modern developmental approach most African governments are taking, but differs in both its magnitude and rationale.
The plan involves an ambitious array ofcomponents across a vast tract of the Hornof Africa.LAPSSET has been marketed as the firstsection of a colossal, continent-wide GreatEquatorial Land Bridge via Juba and Banguito Douala on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast. Conservative feasibility studies show that the project will inject between 2 -to-3 per cent of GDP into the economy. Statistics estimate that the contribution of the LAPSSET Corridor Project to the country’s economic growth might even range between 8 percent to 10 per cent of GDP when the generated, and attracted investments, finally come onboard.
Regional infrastructure projects such as this are strong enablers of Africa’s continental integration. Coupled with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, harmonisation of monetary policies and other standards such as customs, stabilisation of tariff and non-tariff barriers, statistics and labour market information and improved business climate, the LAPSSET project will attract global trade and investments in Africa.
Nairobi-Kisumu Metre Gauge Railway Reopens
Following the refurbishment of the dilapidated railway line from Nairobi to Kisumu, the Kisumu commuter train is back after more than 10 years after services were suspended. The train received overwhelming reception being fully booked for the 2021 December holiday season. The journey by train takes an approximate of 12hrs between Nairobi and Kisumu. In addition to the passenger coaches, the train has an additional coach that serves as a restaurant for the travelers. /Kenya Railways
The reopened Nairobi-Kisumu passenger railway has not only eased movement of people, but also opened the economies in western Kenya, with the planned connections to Uganda and Tanzania well on course.
The revived 266-kilometre line, which collapsed about 15 years ago, will also boost economic activities at the rehabilitated Kisumu port, besides revamping the trade within the East Africa Community, especially with the inclusion of the DR Congo as a member state. Mr Raila Odinga, the Africa Union Envoy for Infrastructure Development, opened the railway at Fort Ternan, near Kisumu. The revamped railway rekindled nostalgic memories of leisurely travel that provided one with breathtaking views of Kenya. The former Prime Minister posted on his Facebook page: “Nothing beats a nostalgic train ride than sharing it with one of my grandkids.”
The eagerly awaited service saw both Christmas Eve and December 26 return trips sold out, forcing the Kenya Railways to introduce an extra trip to meet the demand. The trips to Nairobi after December 31 were also fully booked. Since the bulk Kenya’s exports to Uganda and beyond pass through Port Bell and Jinja via the Kisumu, the former PM said: “We want the rail network to connect even with Musoma and Mwanza in Tanzania as well as Port Bell, Jinja and Kampala in Uganda.”
Some of the goods that Kenya will be exporting via the Kisumu port are food crops, spare parts, edible oils and fertiliser. Kenya Railways sees a huge potential for agricultural products using the meter gauge line with Naivasha as a transhipment centre of goods ferried by the SGR to be transferred to locomotives on the old line.
Nairobi Expressway
Aerial shot of part of the 27.1km elevated dual carriageway, Nairobi Expressway. The expressway is not only going to ease the traffic jam experienced along the busy highway but as well save man hours wasted in the congestion.
Nairobi’s perennial traffic jams will soon be alleviated, thanks to the partially elevated new 27-kilometre Expressway. Road snarl-ups in the metropolis are estimated to cost the country Ksh2 billion annually, or KShs50 million daily, in lost man hours. That high cost will significantly come down. The Expressway, as it is popularly known, will enhance Nairobi’s competitiveness as a regional hub for business and transport by decongesting the city and the Northern Transport Corridor.
For Ksh65 billion, Kenya is expecting to have a highway that will dramatically change the city’s skyline and ease traffic flow in and out of Nairobi, which will be a major milestone. While not part of the Big Four Agenda, it is a significant enabler of economic development in the capital, Nairobi. The four-lane dual carriageway runs along the median strips of Mombasa Road (starting at Mlolongo), Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way, terminating at James Gichuru Road. It is to be tolled and will have 10 interchanges at Mlolongo, SGR, JKIA, Eastern and Western bypasses, Haile-Selassie, Museum Hill in Westlands and James Gichuru Road.
It is part of the Government’s plan to ease traffic from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that accesses Nairobi city centre. Also, traffic from central Nairobi is expected to be facilitated to reduce the number of departing passengers who miss their fights while stuck in road traffic on city streets.
The work involves expansion of the existing road to four lanes one-way, (eight lanes total), with footpaths, drainage channels, overpass bridges and street lighting. Ongoing construction work has worsened the traffic situation on Mombasa Road and adjoining roads, but this is a temporary setback that will eventually be replaced by enjoyable motoring. The project is being undertaken as a Public Private Partnership with the China Road and Bridge Construction Corporation (Kenya) (CRBC) on a build-operate-transfer model. The concessionaire, CRBC, will finance, build and operate the tolled road for 30 years during which it will recover its costs before transferring the operations to KeNHA.
When completed, the Expressway will slash commuting time between Westlands and JKIA from about two hours at peak time to just 15 minutes, a major saving not just for motorists but the economy as well. Meanwhile, the Expressway has created over 2,000 jobs for Kenyans, provided markets for locally manufactured goods and services and encouraged transfer of valuable technical skills.
A section of the road from Mlolongo to NextGen Mall, a distance of 18.2km, will be a flatbed model, while the section from Nextgen Mall through the city centre to St Mark’s Church, covering 8.2km, will be elevated.
The bigger plan is to connect Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the neighbourhood of Rironi, in Kiambu County, along the Nairobi-Limuru Road.
Sections of the Expressway will have eight, six, and four lanes, respectively, based on traffic projections. There will be a two-month test period before it is opened for public use. The construction has been fast-tracked from the initial three years and the Expressway is seen as a solution to the perennial traffic jams in the Nairobi Metropolis, which cost the country KShs 2 billion annually, or KSh50 million daily, in lost man hours, according to World Bank figures.
Spearheaded by the Kenya Highways Authority (KeNHA), it will especially ease traffic congestion on Mombasa Road and enhance mobility in the city. It is estimated that up to 60,000 vehicles ply the JKIA-Westlands route daily. About 25,000 motorists are expected to use the tolled Expressway when completed.
Thiba Dam
A section of Thiba Dam that is expected to secure a year-round water supply for the regions around the Mwea Irrigation scheme. The 40-meter tall and 1 km long dam creates a reservoir that will allow a twice per year every year Mwea rice irrigation scheme and the surrounding cultivable area. The dam will hold 15 million cubic meters of water, which will be supplied to the farmers within the Mutithi section where the existing scheme is being expanded by 10,000 acres. Currently, the Mwea Irrigation scheme has 25,000 acres under rice cultivation but upon expansion will add up to 35,000 acres, which will translate to double production of paddy rice. The National Irrigation Authority is overseeing the construction of the Dam with the Consultants./KNA
Construction of Thiba Dam, which will secure a year-round water supply for agriculture is nearing completion. The 40-meter tall and 1km long dam is creating a reservoir that will allow farmers in the Mwea rice irrigation scheme to cultivate all year long. The remaining nine per cent of work includes connections to the existing road network as well as facilities for water draw-off and safe floodwater drainage. However, the dam is now ready for flooding come the rainy season beginning March 2022 when the water volume will be high enough to secure water flow to other areas, including the Mwea irrigation scheme, Kenya’s rice basket.
The dam will free the farmers from their dependance on rain-fed agriculture.
At completion Thiba Dam will hold 15 million cubic meters of water to be supplied to the farmers within the Mutithi section where the existing scheme is being expanded by 10,000 acres. Currently, the Mwea Irrigation Scheme has 25,000 acres under rice cultivation, but upon expansion, will add up to 35,000 acres.
Income from the crop, which stands at Sh9 billion currently, will also increase to about KShs 20 billion per year. The National Irrigation Authority is overseeing the construction of the Dam with the Consultant being a joint venture of Nippon Koei and Gibb Africa and contractor Straback International GmbH (Germany). Once complete, an additional 10,000 acres will be put under irrigation in Mwea.
Regeneration of Kisumu Port
Ongoing construction of MV Uhuru II wagon ferry, dry dock and slipway at the Kisumu Shipyard. The construction of the wagon ferry was commissioned by President Kenyatta in May last 2021. The construction and local assembly in the country has earned respect amongst its neghbours and the East African region in the marine industry.
The 120-year-old Kisumu Port is poised to strengthen Kenya’s status as the leading business hub for the East African Community.
By completing the Phase One revamping of the port and repairing the equally old Nairobi-Nanyuki and Nakuru-Kisumu metre-gauge railway lines, the Government has positioned Kisumu to regain its tag as the gateway to East and Central Africa. Kisumu’s location on the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, makes it an entry point to vast parts of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi — with a combined population of around 35 million people and a GDP of some US$30 billion, which is, on average, about 40 percent of the total EAC economy.
Economic activities standing to benefit from the investments include fisheries and transport of bulk products like oil and grains.
The Government is in the process of tendering for Phase Two of the Kisumu Port rehabilitation project, but the city is already benefiting from its status as a revitalized EAC trading hub on the shores of Lake Victoria. Key Government institutions, including the Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the County Government of Kisumu are working together to ensure the success of the projects. The rehabilitation of MV Uhuru and the commissioning of the revamped Naivasha-Kisumu railway line, is already feeding more cargo to Kisumu Port.
The Government has been encouraged by data showing that improvement in governance and efficiency saw the port handle 62 percent more cargo (to 17,735 tonnes) in 2019 and expects this to continue following the completion of the Phase.
Cargo output is project to increase to 130,000 tonnes by 2025, and further to 180,000 tonnes by 2035. By improving the reliability of the medium gauge railway (MGR) between Naivasha and Kisumu, maritime vessels like MV Uhuru will be able to ferry cargo from Kisumu to ports such as Mwanza and Bukoba in Tanzania as well as Jinja and Port Bell in Uganda as more local firms exploit the lower transport costs on Lake Victoria.
Data from the National Economic 2021 released in September shows that exports from Kenya to the East Africa region grew from KSh140.4 billion in 2019 to KSh158.3 billion in 2020, accounting for 64.3 per cent of the total exports to Africa. Exports to Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan alone jointly amounted to KShs 120.6 billion, compared with KShs 99.9 billion in 2019, reflecting a growth of 20.8 per cent. Uganda remained the largest export destination, accounting for 29.3 per cent of the total exports to Africa.
Export earnings from South Sudan almost doubled from KShs 12.6 billion in 2019 to KShs 23.2 billion 2020, while the value of exports to Rwanda went up by 8.8 per cent over the same period. In addition, the value of exports to Ethiopia and Sudan rose by 32.4 and 42.0 per cent, respectively, in 2020. According to the Kenya Ports Authority, Kisumu Port will accommodate larger vessels and handle higher cargo volumes once the ongoing renovations and dredging works are complete.
The project scope that extends to the Kisumu Port basin, Kenya Pipeline Company turning basin, Deep Sea approach channel and the Mbita causeway is already complete, with the dredging hitting a depth of minus 7 metres from the current minus 4.5 and minus 2.5m for the causeway. It has seen the construction of an 80 metre-wide canal seven metres deep and 63 kilometres long stretching to Mbita town.
Mombasa Port Expansion Project Phase II
Three Ship to Shore gantry cranes being delivered at the Mombasa Port expected to operate at the newly constructed berth 22. The cranes utilized for offloading and loading cargo from a ship to the quayside work at a speed of 40 moves per hour The modern Ship to Shore gantry cranes will improve efficiency and boost productivity of the port whose capacity has been increased by a further 550,000 TEUs annually following the completion of the new berth 22./KPA
The Mombasa Port expansion project is nearing completion, with Phase II construction of a second container terminal in the final stages. The port expansion will help Mombasa remain competitive even as the development of a second, deep port in Lamu gathers pace. It is financed by Japan at a cost of KShs 32 billion. Before Lamu, Mombasa Port was the only international commercial port in Kenya and remains the busiest in the East African Community. As the gateway port of Kenya and the hub port of the East African region, Mombasa handles transit cargo to landlocked countries in central Africa such as Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.
The story of the project goes back to 2000 when the Government of Kenya asked the Government of Japan to extend an ODA loan for the “Mombasa Port Container Terminal Expansion (Project)” following recommendations by the Japan External Trade Organisation ( JETRO).
Major port facilities and equipment provided under Phase I of the project include:
Access channel and turning basins with marker buoys.
Revetment 1 (881m long).
Revetment 2 (140m long).
Berth No. 20 (11m deep, 201m long, 21m wide).
Berth No. 21 (15m deep, 350m long, 30m wide).
Small boat berth (4.5m deep, 283m long, 15m wide).
Light beacon for berth Nos. 20 and 21.
Container yard.
Trunk road (8 lanes, 14,000m long, 37.5m wide).
Port access road (6 lanes, 2,242m long, 33m wide).
Connection road (5 lanes, 940m long, 23.5m wide).
Railway terminals and connections.
Port security system.
Port administration office and other port buildings.
50-tonne quayside container cranes (2 units).
40.6-tonne transfer cranes (4 units).
Phase I saw 20.23 hectares (50 acres) of land reclaimed from the sea, creating 550,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) capacity with two new berths. Phase II has also seen the reclamation of another 20.23 hectares from the sea and will add 450,000 TEUs capacity to the port, bringing the total capacity of the new terminal to one million TEUs. As demand for containerised cargo grows, the port is expected to handle up to 1.732 million TEUs by 2023, up from the current 1.42 million TEUs. This is an average of 47 million tonnes by 2030, compared with the current 30 million tonnes. This will rise to 111 million tonnes by 2047.
The port can now accommodate larger vessels, which gives it a competitive edge over the neighbouring ports, mainly in Dar-es-Salaam and Djibouti. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the construction of the Inland Container Deport in Nairobi and the Naivasha dry port have positioned Mombasa Port to handle increased demand for containerised cargo to neighbouring states. With the refurbishment of the Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) to Kisumu, the final link is now in place for seamless delivery of cargo at competitive rates to the East African Community trading partners.
The SGR will also serve the 32-berth seaport in Lamu, which is a key pillar of the KShs 2.5 trillion Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project. Kisumu Port was refurbished at a cost of KShs 700 million, as part of the Kenya Vision 2030 Big 4 Agenda projects to upgrade Kenya’s ports, rail and logistics services, under the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN). The KTLN has consolidated the operations of Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Railways Corporation, with oversight provided by the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC).
Isiolo Airport
Farmers in Isiolo, Meru and Laikipia counties following the recent completion of cargo shades at the Isiolo International Airport, which will allow them to export their produce to their target markets. Agencies led by Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya (FPC Kenya), Directorate of Miraa and Pyrethrum and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) intend to expand the market for the fresh produce industry via the airport.
The region is well known for producing commodities such as Miraa, pyrethrum, vegetables and flowers. The airport was officially opened in 2017. Small scale farmers are the main targets to enable them to reach out to domestic, regional (read East African Community) and global markets by cutting short the travel distance of the produce. The facility can now accommodate cargo flights.
New Kipevu Oil Terminal
Kipevu Oil terminal (KOT) which will be operational by April this year (2022). The stakeholders who are owners of oil tankers that handle petroleum products have been familiarized with the amenities of the terminal to ensure business efficiency. The new KOT is expected to revolutionize the handling of petroleum products at the Port of Mombasa. KPA has been constructing the ultra-modern 4 berths offshore facility that will improve port’s capacity to handle oil products and reduce on waiters further enhancing productivity. the 40 billion KPA funded facility will have 4 berths capable of handling six different hydrocarbon import and export products. It is also fitted with an LPG facility, crude oil and heavy fuel oil.
The KShs 40 billion offshore Kipevu Oil Terminal, the largest of its kind in Africa will have a 770-metre long jetty, currently at 96 per cent complete. It is wholly funded by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and implemented by the China Communications Construction Company.
When complete in April 2022, the offshore facility will be able to load and offload very large sea tankers of up to 200,000 DWT carrying all categories of petroleum products including crude oil, white oils and LPG. The new jetty will enhance supply and ensure price stability of petroleum products in Kenya and the region by replacing the 50-year old onshore Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT).
When operational, President Kenyatta noted that the new offshore jetty will save the country more than KShs 2 billion annually in demurrage costs incurred by oil shippers, thereby contributing to a significant reduction in fuel pump prices. The new facility will be able to reduce not only the cost of fuel, but also ensure that Kenya is able to consistently have an adequate supply of fuel for our needs and development needs that of our people.
The old Kipevu Oil Terminal was unable to meet the demands of Kenya’s increasing population and economy. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has also completed the construction of 1.2 kilometer six-lane concrete Kipevu road to facilitate easy movement of cargo. The construction of the highway replacing the old four-lane road was co-financed by KPA and Trademark East Africa (TMEA) to the tune of Sh2 billion. The road, which is part of the improvement and expansion programme at the port of Mombasa, is located near Chaani and extends from Changamwe roundabout to KPA Gate 18 with an additional 200m inside the port area.
The road will also accommodate a 40 metres railway bridge with two cells for vehicles and a gate canopy for custom and security purposes. Completion of the Kipevu road and Sh500 million modern tug jetty adds to other multi-billion infrastructural projects aimed at increasing efficiency through the Mombasa Port Development Programme (MPDP) initiative.
Mombasa Cruise Ship Terminal Project
The new Mombasa Cruise Ship Terminal at the port of Mombasa is a boost Kenya’s tourism sector. The three-storey building will accommodate port health services, logistics, immigration, and duty-free shops among others, and offer visitors a one-stop-shop for travel and hospitality services. There is a dedicated section for cruise ships to dock at the port. It was built at a cost KShs 1 billion, with Sh250 million coming from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the balance from TradeMark East Africa (TMEA). The new terminal is kind to the environment, since it is powered using solar energy and also has a bio-digester that will recycle water for re-use, according to KPA. It will replace the old Shade 1 and 2, for cruise liners.
Nairobi Western Bypass
This is the final link of Kenya’s capital city’s Ring Road Master Plan that includes the eastern, southern, and northern bypasses and is expected to be complete by September 2022. The road is being built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and funded by the Government of Kenya and the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank), and consists of 15 kilometres dual carriageway, 18 kilometres of service roads, and footpaths in selected sections. It will provide a seamless link to the Southern bypass at Gitaru town and to the Northern bypass at Ruaka avoiding the centre of Nairobi. and reducing the travel time along the highway. It will also ease traffic congestion by way of being an alternative route between Nairobi and Kiambu county towns and reducing commuting time for motorists travelling between Nakuru and the central region of Kenya.
The bypass starts in Gitaru and weaves through Wangige and Ndenderu to terminate at Ruaka and includes pedestrian barriers in the center to prevent people from passing through unauthorized areas. The seven interchanges on the Nairobi Western bypass are at Gitaru, Lower Kabete, Wangige, Kihara, Ndenderu, Rumenye, and Ruaka, with 10 overpasses and five underpasses.
Mombasa Southern Bypass: Dongo Kundu Phase II (Miritini-Mwache)
Construction work on the multibillion-shilling Phase II of the Dongo Kundu Bypass is taking shape while creating jobs and business opportunities for the residents.
Also known as the Mombasa Southern Bypass, the highway will connect three main transport corridors, including the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, Mombasa-Malindi highway and the Mombasa- Lunga Lunga highway, thus reducing traffic gridlocks in Mombasa and its environs.
Phase I was completed in 2018 and joins the Mombasa-Nairobi highway at Bonje, near Mazeras. Phase II will also help to reduce congestion at the Likoni Ferry, facilitating easy movement of goods, services and people. The 17.7 km long bypass will cost KShs 22 billion, with an interchange at the Likoni-Lunga Lunga highway and erection of two bridges one at Mwache, spanning 660 metres, and another at Mteza straddling 1,440 metres.
It includes the construction of a series of roads, bridges and viaducts (a long bridge-like structure) linking Mombasa West to the South Coast in Kwale an important transport corridor for traffic destined to and from Tanzania and from the interior of the country and beyond. It will connect Mombasa mainland west to Mombasa mainland south, without entering Mombasa Island through the Likoni crossing channel. The third phase includes the construction of a six-kilometre road, from the Mteza Bridge to the Likoni-Lunga Lunga highway at Ngombeni area.
Thwake Multipurpose Dam
Thwake Multipurpose Dam, a Vision 2030 flagship project estimated to cost KShs 63 billion, will spur socio-economic development and ease perennial water shortages in Kitui once complete. It is being built in four main phases that include, construction of a 77 metre-high dam, hydro power generation, 34,600 cubic meters of water supply and a final phase of irrigating 40,000 hectares in Makueni and Kitui counties.
According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) environmental impact assessment report, the dam is designed to supply piped water for domestic use, serve the Konza Techno City and adjacent towns, irrigate farms downstream in the two counties and generate 23 megawatts of hydro power. The multipurpose dam is a project under the Tanathi Water Services Board (TAWSB) and entails harnessing waters of the Athi River and Thwake River.
It will provide water for domestic use, livestock, irrigation, hydropower and even industrial activities in the beneficiary districts. The proposed dam will cover an area of approximately 2,900 hectares spanning Makueni, Machakos and Kitui counties with a catchment area of 10,276 square kilometres. It will address water scarcity and open the counties for economic activities like fishing and tourism.
Twice the size of Masinga dam, Thwake Multipurpose Dam will hold as much as three million cubic metres of water. The project is funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AFDB) on 65 per cent and 35 per cent ratio. The first phase of the project, which will cost Sh.30 billion, will connect households to clean water while the second phase will focus on irrigation to boost agribusiness. The third and last phase of the project will involve generation of hydropower where it is expected that the dam will contribute 20 MW to the national grid.
This is the fourth in a four-book mini-series by the Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board (KYEB), capturing key interventions by the National Government in Manufacturing, which is the first Pillar of the Big 4 Agenda and the Third Medium-Term Plan (MTP III). COMING SOON!
This is the third in a four-book mini-series by the Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board (KYEB), capturing key interventions by the National Government in Manufacturing, which is the first Pillar of the Big 4 Agenda and the Third Medium-Term Plan (MTP III). COMING SOON!
Under the Big Four blueprint, the Government wants to provide at least 500,000 affordable housing units by 2022. The government recognizes that turning the dial on the housing shortage requires a mix of incentives to investors in the housing sector, as well as encouraging Kenyans to explore options that will help them achieve their long-cherished dreams of owning their homes. Click HERE to read more on affordable housing.
