By Allan Olingo

More by this Author

Kenya’s ruling Jubilee party has revised its double-digit economic growth target mooted five years ago, now promising a broad-based inclusive and modern economy.

In its manifesto launched mid last week, the ruling party plans a reduction in wastage of public resources to generate $10 billion in savings over the next five years, to enhance the country’s productive capacity and offset the national debt.

The 2013 manifesto was stronger on tax rebates and incentives for businesses.

“We will work towards high, rapid and inclusive economic growth, to create wealth and reduce inequalities,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said at the launch in Kasarani, Nairobi.

Five years ago, the party promised a Single East African Market, phasing out tariffs and barriers among East African Community member countries and moving towards the creation of a single regional currency.

They also targeted a 7-10 per cent growth rate in the first two years of the Jubilee government to create one million new jobs. But these have not been achieved. The 2017 manifesto is silent on these growth targets and now fronts a savings approach.

READ: Kenya president outlines Jubilee scorecard ahead of polls

ALSO READ: Kenyans divided on Jubilee government scorecard

“To achieve the desired growth and job creation goals, we will increase the level of savings from 18.3 per cent to 25.3 per cent by 2022. We will boost national savings by implementing the National Sovereign Wealth Fund which will mandate that at least 5 per cent of revenues from the extractive industry are saved for this generation and generations to come,” the manifesto says.

Jubilee also plans to boost revenue generation to achieve a tax effort of 27 per cent of GDP from the current 19 per cent by focusing on better technology and intelligence-led tax practices that support national priorities.

The Manifesto also seems to have taken complete turn on housing, dropping the incentives of using grants from the National Housing Corporation and microfinancing loans for new home construction to low-income Kenyans. Instead, it now seeks to establish a National Social Housing Development Fund and create alternative financing strategies to finance low cost housing and the associated social and physical infrastructure.

Charles Mwangi, a valuer says that the bottlenecks existing at the Ministry of Lands and the housing sector have proved too difficult for the government and the private sector to implement such ambitious policies.

The ruling party has also seemed to have dropped championing for the manufacturing sector, one of its key campaign pillars five years ago, which it then said would provide a bulk of the one million annual jobs it promised.

Five years ago, they promised to enact new Public-Private Partnership legislation to encourage private investment in public projects; establish a Kenya Development Bank to provide finance to the private sector for capital projects, including infrastructure development; and also introduce tax incentives to encourage investment and growth in the manufacturing and service sectors, which will enable the coalition’s pledge of creating one million new jobs to become a reality.