In its manifesto, the Jubilee government will also put in place measures to boost national security and channel more resources towards delivering quality and affordable healthcare to all Kenyans.
The main pillars of the Manifesto which has been packaged as a long term strategic plan for transforming Kenya are Umoja (National Cohesion and Unity), Uchumi (Economic transformation) and Uwazi (Transparency and accountability).
Under the Umoja pillar, the Jubilee government will focus on improving national security and the country’s trade and foreign relations.
On security, the coalition will raise the police-citizen ration from the current 1:1150 to 1:800 citizens within five years by recruiting 15,000 police officers every year besides providing modern security equipment and transport with each ward having two police vehicles at its disposal.
The coalition will also raise the salaries of police officers.
It will also overhaul the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and invest in a specialist anti-terrorism unit with professional expertise to deal with terror groups such as the Al-Shabaab.
The coalition will also ensure that all internally displaced persons in various parts of the country, including those evicted from the Mau forest, the post election violence victims and squatters in coastal regions are resettled or where possible, returned to their original hoes.
Other areas to be addressed under the pillar include sports and culture and the provision of better healthcare to Kenyans by investing in preventive and primary health initiatives.
The coalition will increase the healthcare budget from 6 per cent to 15 per cent to achieve free health services to all Kenyans, starting with women, expectant and breast feeding mothers and persons with disabilities.
It will ensure that each Kenyan family has access to a health facility within a radius of five miles.
It will also upgrade and equip provincial hospitals to referral hospitals supported by a chain of county referral facilities and community level public health centres.
The Jubilee government will also concentrate on raising the standards of education in the country by improving access to and quality of education in the country.
The coalition will increase the number of schools in marginalised areas and restrict class sizes to a maximum of 40 pupils while improving the teacher and student ratio to 1:40.
The Jubilee coalition will introduce a national scheme of government funded scholarships to ensure that bright KCPE examination candidates enjoy free education to the bet secondary schools.
It will also make it mandatory for government secondary schools to take a minimum of 50 per cent of their form one admissions from public primary schools.
The coalition will however stop the current trend of turning middle level colleges into universities.
Muslim group endorses Jubilee
Meanwhile, the Association of Muslims Organisations in Kenya (AMOK) has supported Mr Kenyatta's bid for presidency.
AMOK also took a swipe at the Cord Coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga for dishonouring the 2007 memorandum of understanding (MoU).
At a press conference in Castle Royal Hotel, Mombasa, the association’s joint secretary Fazul Mohamed said although the agreement was between them and PM Odinga, they benefited more with President Kibaki’s side of government.
“From the Grand coalition, we largely benefited from the PNU than the ODM side despite the fact that 70 per cent of Muslims voted for the PM,” he added.
Based on the association’s leadership survey, Mr Mohamed claimed the community would fair well under the Jubilee administration compared to a Cord led government.
According to him, the PM had failed to resolve the Muslim issues within the Grand coalition government especially on land, government appointments and repatriating terrorist suspects being held in foreign lands.
“Why is Mr Odinga politicising the coastal land problem when he can use Land Minister James Orengo to resolve it?” he posed claiming that what he was doing was just ‘inciting’ people on the volatile land issue.
To garner the estimated 2.5 million Muslim vote bloc, Mr Mohamed said the organisations within the umbrella body would visit the 12 most populous counties throughout the country to rally their support.
Meanwhile, a section of religious leaders calling themselves ‘the Interfaith Friends of Ruto forum’ want the international community to respect the will of Kenyans if they decided to elect the Jubilee candidate Uhuru Kenyatta as president.
Speaking during a press conference at Paronama Hotel over the weekend, the clerics said the western countries had a role to play in ensuring that there was smooth transition of power after the March 4 elections.
Forum chairman Sheikh Hamisi Mwinyi said they were in support of the Jubilee alliance and would campaign for the presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Kenya is a sovereign state and we have the freedom to elect our leaders. Nobody should dictate the way we choose our leaders,” said Sheikh Mwinyi.
The clerics, who were accompanied by more 200 supporters, said leaders in the Jubilee alliance had proved they were progressive, and praised Mr William Ruto as having initiated reforms when he was Agriculture minister before he fell out the PM.
Pastor Nobert Ochanda of Global United Ministries claimed that both Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta had succeeded in uniting communities in the Rift Valley.
“There is no much tension being experienced in the post-election violence hotspots in the Rift Valley because every time the two traverse the region they preach peace. We should give them due credit for their efforts,” he said.
At the press conference, AMOK chairman Sheikh Salim Saleh called on Muslims and Christians to work together to ensure the heightened political tension across the country was diffused ahead of the March 4 General Election.
“What was witnessed during the parties’ primaries was quite unfortunate and it should not be allowed to repeat during next month’s polls,” he said.
He pleaded with the political class and aspirants of various positions to prioritise peace and national cohesion in their campaign agenda.
“Politics will come and go but peace must prevail. We urge our fellow citizens to exercise tolerance and steer out of violent acts that can threaten peace and tranquillity,” he said. - Sunday Nation
