In his second last State Of The Nation address President Uhuru Kenyatta was keen to point out some of his government achievement.
According to him, his administration has helped the country improve economically, moving upwards in ranking from position 12 to position 6 in the list of wealthy countries on the continent.
“We have multiplied our critical fundamentals in ways that even I did not imagine, for instance in 2013 Kenya was Africa’s 12th wealthiest nation with a GDP of 4.75 trillion shilling.
This GDP was accumulated in span of 123 years through four administrations before ours because I included the colonial administration.
In just 8 years my administration has multiplied the GDP by a factor of 2 plus, today our GDP stand at Kenya shillings 11 trillion up from the 4.75 trillion and from being ranked as the 12th wealthiest nation in Africa when I took over, we have moved six ranks to 6th wealthiest nation on the continent on account of the choices we have made.” he noted
However, judging by the number of unemployment as released by the Kenya National Bureau of statistics, the unemployment rate stood at 6.60 per cent as of march 2021.
This as the minimum wage stood at 13,572 as of May this year against a rising cost of living due to increased taxation on petroleum products that saw the price of fuel rise to an all-time high.
Data further shows that annual inflation rate fell marginally for the second straight month to stand at 5.80 per cent in November of 2021, down from 6.45 per cent in October.
Further, data in possession of Kenyans.co.ke indicates that in the second term of the Kenyatta led administration more than 6,000 companies shut down leaving thousands unemployed.
At the same time during the Kenyatta’s led administration the country’s debt doubled to stand at 7.7 trillion shillings as of June 2021, according to data from the Central Bank.
Cost of power under the same administration has also gone up with the citizens being forced to pay more for it while the administration chest thumbs over connectivity without addressing the cost of power which is now ranked among the most expensive in the continent.
Some Kenyans took to social media to express their disappointment with the speech, others calling it an exercise of obfuscation.
The Kenyatta led administration has also been on the spot over billions lost to corruption every year with the president confirming that the country loses an average of Ksh. 2 Billion every day to corruption further denting the administrations effectiveness.
According to some experts however, the priority project for the administration have been wanting, some noting that creating an enabling environment for business to thrive and reducing the cost of living should have been prioritized.
