Mwai Kibaki, the president who turned around Kenya's economic fortunes

Kenya’s third president is responsible for the Vision 2030 economic blueprint which is in its third medium term which seeks to transform Kenya into a newly industrialised, middle-income nation that provides a high quality of life to its citizens by 2030.

Also it was under President Kibaki’s tenure where he implemented and over saw the construction of Ksh.28 billion the Thika superhighway which transformed road transport in both the Capital and the Mt Kenya region. 

When Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as President of Kenya for the first term on December 30, 2002, East Africa’s largest economy was facing myriad problems mainly stemming from years of mismanagement and corruption under the Moi administration’s 24-year-old rule.

From 4.5 per cent in 2001, economic growth had slowed down to 0.6 per cent when he handed over power to his successor in December 2002. In his inauguration speech, President Kibaki prioritised the economy as the focus of his tenure.

The President, in his 2002 speech singled out unemployment, declining school enrolment and deterioration of the education sector, lack of access to basic and affordable health services, dilapidated roads and other infrastructure network and growing insecurity.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data, by the end of the President Kibaki’s first term in office, infrastructure plans were being implemented, students in public primary schools had started learning free of charge, the number of public universities was increasing and economic growth had shot up to 7.1 %.

The Vision 2030 economic blueprint, which replaced the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation in 2007, sought to transform Kenya into a newly industrialised, middle-income nation that provides a high quality of life to its citizens by 2030.

The Vision’s first pillar seeks to ensure that Kenya achieves and sustains an average economic growth of more than 10 % per annum over a 25-year period.

In January 2012, the Kibaki’s government launched the Konza technopolis city project to create a hub of technology innovation in Africa as one of Vision 2030 projects.

On technology, only 250,000 people had access to the Internet in 2003 when Kibaki took over compared to about 30 million Kenyans are using mobile phones and more than 14 million had access to the Internet as at the end of last year.

On the economic front, about one million people had access to financial services in 2002 and by the end of 2021, more than 20 million Kenyans had access to financial services, a majority through the revolutionary mobile money solutions developed by Kenyans working with telecommunications companies.

Further, president Kibaki is credited with the expansion of banking services that resulted in increased access to credit by small and medium size enterprises and individuals.

Since 2005, the government has been implementing the Roads 2000 Programme which has improved more than 7,000 kilometres of rural roads, generated about 4.7 million person days of employment, trained 5,600 contractors and spent more than Ksh.1 billion in rural parts of Kenya according to the Ministry of Roads.

The 50.4km Thika Road modification into a super highway cost the country Ksh.31 billion.

In February 2012 President Kibaki opened the expanded Kisumu International Airport whose first phase was implemented at a cost of about Ksh.3 billion.

Also the Construction of a new terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was commissioned under his tenure.