President William Ruto will this week preside over a four-day annual retreat of the National Executive which kicks off Sunday in Naivasha.
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura, says the retreat will be used to review the government’s performance in 2023 and chart the way forward for 2024.
The President who presided over the inaugural Cabinet meeting of the year 2024 last month at State House outlined the agenda of the retreat bringing together all members of Cabinet, all Principal Secretaries and Members of the Presidential Advisory Team which he termed as an accountability tool.
“The year 2024 is expected to be a consequential period in the Administration’s tenure in office as the implementation of key flagship programmes and projects under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) begin to take shape; guiding the nation along a path of national renaissance” read a cabinet dispatch.
The programmes and projects include Agricultural Transformation, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, the Affordable Housing Programme, Healthcare through Universal Health Coverage, the Digital Economy powered by the Digital Superhighway, and the Creative Economy.
Dr Mwaura in a statement on Sunday emphasised that the government shall be reviewing the GOK Lab Report, based on the 15 key parameters, that were deployed to assess government performance across the 23 ministries, 51 state departments and 348 Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs).
“Over the last 17 months, we have documented more than 105 achievements of the 122 commitments that are enshrined in THE BETA PLAN, which is the social contract between the government and the citizenry” he stated.
The meeting will be preceded by the Kenya Kwanza parliamentary group slated for Monday, Feb 19, before senior government officials including cabinet secretaries convene to review the performance of all ministries and State offices.
“On 19th February, there will be a Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting, which will report on the progress of the 2nd session of the 13 Parliament, with a view to setting the agenda for the 3rd session. On the 20th and 21′ February, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and other senior government officials, will review the performance of the current administration, in implementing THE BETA PLAN, as was agreed upon during the inaugural retreat on the 5th – 8th January 2023” Mwaura explained.
The anchor of the BETA is a five-point plan that involves Food Security, Jobs and Economic Empowerment, Health, Housing, and Social Protection.
This is the second retreat since the Kenya Kwanza Government assumed office.
The retreat comes in the wake of Kenya’s’ bid for the AU Commission chairperson seat, which opposition leader Raila Odinga has since expressed his interest.
Additional reporting by Joseph Wakhungu
