Overview

Kenya’s Big-4 Agenda 2018-2022

Purpose of this Analysis is to invite inputs from professionals esp., Private Sector CEO’s/echelons, Trade Union leaders and current/retired Ministers/PS’ and government employees well versed with the process of economic diplomacy and policy making/shaping to initiate a Balanced Score Card System (BSC) for Presidents Big-4 Agenda. The Big-4 BSC will be MfDR based framework: to set results, targets, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Input can be from people with or without domain capacity.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “Big-4 Agenda” defines following Government’s priorities and revised budgetary resources for the 2018–2022 planning cycle. The Big Four Agenda is to coincide with the 3^rd Medium-Term Plan of Vision 2030.

Agenda	Billion K.Shs
1.             Manufacturing (15% to GDP & 800,000 jobs),	3.1
2.             Food security and nutrition,
a.    Crop Development	25.2
b.    Irrigation	17.9
3.             Providing universal health coverage
a.    Expansion of Universal Health Care	44.6
b.    Other Health schemes	45.4
4.             Housing: 500,000 affordable houses by 2022	32.0

The imposing aspect of agenda is its recognition of County Governments as a vital partner placing them at the center in the implementation in coordination with Ministry of devolution under Presidency. Implementation path has been spelled out as follows:

1.     County to prepare Development Plans (CIDPs) for the 2018-22.

2.     County Plans to converge with the 3^rd Medium-Term Plan of Vision 2030 (awaiting promulgation) in terms of goals, targets and indicators.

3.     National Government to support county in restructuring infrastructure.

4.     National Government to operationalize strategies aimed at enhancing counties to own revenue sources, broadening the tax bases and eliminating loopholes for tax avoidance.

5.     Presidency will support Counties in developing viable processing zones for locally available resources, hence attract investors to boost county revenue.

This keenness by Presidency to facilitate mutual and collaborative partnership between the National and County Governments emulates Chinese development model of centralized policy making but decentralizing development decisions in the hands of regional administration having greater capability to recognize localized strengths and resources. It will enable enforce national development master plan, with scale economics, avoid duplication, enhance county level sharing of service utilization, and use of uniform standards and specification.

Another heartening reflection was that, budgetary resources for Big 4 agenda were to be reallocated through internally reprioritizing amongst various State Departmental functions. The 2018-19 budget policy have announced allocation of K.Shs 460.2 billion to implement the Big 4 agenda under all clusters both for the drivers (K.Shs 82  B) as well as cross enablers (K.Shs 322.2 B) and other enablers K,Shs 58.7 B.

Thus the Presidency has given Kenyans an excellent opportunity of pioneering the President’s economic strategy based on the Big Four agenda and shape it into a masterplan capable of spelling out links in its agenda, strategy or policies, with a full results matrix for resource allocation, as well as implementation monitoring and evaluation frameworks for each Ministry, State department agency (MDAs) or County Government.

However, Media has critiqued emerging paradigms deserving address. The Next Blog will aim to analyse those criticism

K Bhatt

Project Manager
Sanghani Ports Ltd