NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 30- Former Head of Public Service Ambassador Francis Muthaura has described the late Mwai Kibaki as the father of modern Kenya.
Muthaura, who was a close ally of Kibaki, served as the Head of Public Service during his tenure.
He was speaking during the burial of Kenya’s third President in Othaya, Nyeri County-where he detailed several projects initiated by Kibaki during his 10-year reign.
“I cannot express enough, the loss and pain we feel about our departed father,” he said. “He was our teacher. He empowered all of us in the public and private sector.”
He assumed the helm of the country’s leadership while the GDP was at 14 billion US dollars and left it at 60 billion US dollars.
It is currently more than 100 US dollars, Muthaura pointed out.
“We are the fifth-largest economy in Africa and we are matching on,” he said.
How did Kibaki revive the country’s economy?
Muthaura said upon assumption of power, during his first term, he established an economic recovery and employment creation programme.
“With this, we surpassed all the targets that had been set,” he said.
It was a marvel even for world bodies like the IMF, Muthaura added.
“It is like he just cut the chains and the economy started bubbling,” he said. “He focussed on the essential foundation of the economy.”
“There is no project that we would not implement under him.”
It is under President Kibaki, he said, that the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was renovated to its current status.
“The World Bank representative said if you Kenyans can do a project like this successfully on your own resources, there is no project which you cannot implement,” he said.
It is also the president who started the Isiolo-Moyale highway, a 520 kilometers road set to open up Northern Kenya and join Kenya with Ethiopia.
“He even pushed a lot the recession of Rwanda and Burundi to the East Africa Community,” he said.
Kibaki also set the foundation of the LAPSSET project.
The LAPSSET Corridor Program is Eastern Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project bringing together Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
The mega project consists of seven key infrastructure projects starting with a new 32 Berth port at Lamu (Kenya); Interregional Highways from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba (South Sudan), Isiolo to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Lamu to Garsen (Kenya), Crude Oil Pipeline from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba; Product Oil Pipeline from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Addis Ababa; Interregional Standard Gauge Railway lines from Lamu to Isiolo, Isiolo to Juba, Isiolo to Addis Ababa, and Nairobi to Isiolo.
It also includes 3 International Airports: one each at Lamu, Isiolo, and Lake Turkana; 3 Resort Cities: one each at Lamu, Isiolo and Lake Turkana; and The multipurpose High Grand Falls Dam along the Tana River.
Kibaki also started free primary education, saw an increase of public universities from 6 to 22, and introduced TVET institutions in the country.
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