|
|
Kenya: Coalition Facing Financing Dilemma in Joint Policy Effort
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Business Daily (Nairobi)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Mwaura Kimani
Financing an economic recovery plan following recent political turmoil poses the biggest challenge to the harmonisation of social and economic blueprints ahead of the formation of a grand coalition government, it has emerged.
A member of committee that was formed to harmonise the manifestos of the three main political parties, which are the coalition partners said although the parties had agreed on most policy measures, drawing the list of priorities has nearly stalled the process.
With key sectors such as tourism devastated by the two month sectarian conflict, policy makers agreed that economic recovery should get priority over new programmes, at least in the medium term.
Financing the reconstruction plan -including national reconciliation, security and peace building alone-is expected to cost at least Sh31.5 billion with the bulk of the money coming from Kenya's development partners.
Last week, President Kibaki told ambassadors and High Commissioners from donor nations that the Government had re-allocated Sh1.25 billion from the current budget for the purpose.
David Musila, the Mwingi South MP and a member of the harmonisation committee said the team had agreed to tackle pressing matters like resettlement of internal refugees and implementation of the National Accord. The committee is co-chaired by Internal Security minister George Saitoti and ODM secretary- general Anyang Nyong'o.
Other members of the team from President Kibaki's PNU include Science and Technology minister Noah Wekesa, Finance minister Amos Kimunya and Roads minister John Michuki.
ODM is represented by its chairman Henry Kosgey and ODM Pentagon members Najib Balala and Charity Ngilu.
In their efforts to woo voters, President Kibaki, Raila Odinga of Orange Democratic Party (ODM) and Kalonzo Musyoka of ODM-Kenya rolled out reform-packed manifestos promising major shifts in the management of the country's economy.
President Kibaki is expected to form a new Government--with Mr Odinga as the Prime Minister by the end of this week. The new government is expected to immediately embark on execution of the proposed recovery programmes.
Besides finding money to finance the recovery programmes, the parties are expected to reckon with delivery of policy promises and pledges they made to the electorate in the run-up to last year's election.
Key sectors and issues that are likely to become the point of focus for the new government include health, education, infrastructure and poverty reduction.
Pressure for reform is particularly expected to mount as Kenyans grapple with the expected rise of food and fuel prices in the next couple of months.
According to the Month Economic Review for February 2008, prepared by the Central Bank of Kenya, inflation rose to 19.1 per cent last month from 18.2 per cent in January helped by high food and fuel prices.
|
"It is a lengthy and hectic process but we are making progress although there is nothing much to report so far," said Mr Musila.
"Implementation of the proposals in the manifestos could come in the long-run, but we have chosen to deal with urgent matters first."
Policy analysts warned that failure to undertake promised reforms exposes the politicians to a backlash from the electorate.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
