Ruto’s Plan: Tackling Living Costs & Unemployment in FY 2023/24
With the proposed budget for Financial Year 2023/24, President William Ruto took the time on Sunday to explain how he plans to address the rising cost of living and the soaring unemployment rate in the country.
Ruto explained in detail in Kajiado how he intends to use the budgetary allocations to alleviate Kenyans from the severe economic crisis they are experiencing and to create employment opportunities.
According to the Head of State, the government has a “deliberate and practical” strategy to achieve its vision, beginning with the elephant in the room, the high cost of living.
President Ruto stated that he intends to maximize untapped avenues for bolstering agriculture, which will increase production and decrease the price of food commodities.
“We’ve registered five million farmers and given each one fertilizer; we’ve also put money in the budget to increase fertilizers and seeds for our farmers in the coming year,” he said.
“We will construct 400 small markets in various regions to assist our farmers so that we can begin the process of aggregation, value addition, processing, and manufacturing to put money in the pockets of our farmers and create jobs for our youth.”
Ruto stated that the government will build approximately 4,100 dams to combat water scarcity and support the growth of livestock farming and food production.
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“For the first time, we have the largest livestock budget. We lose a great deal of livestock due to drought, and we have an extensive plan to build dams,” he said.
“We will construct 100 large dams and have contracts for 33 dams.” Additionally, we will construct 1000 small dams and 3000 water pans.”
Simultaneously, President Ruto stated that he will devote his resources to increasing the unemployment rate.
According to him, bilateral negotiations are currently underway with foreign nations to negotiate labor agreements for Kenyans in all professions, including university graduates.
This, he said, will be led by the State Department of Diaspora Affairs, which is charged with connecting Kenyans living abroad with employment opportunities.
“We’re in discussions with Germany, the United States, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates region, and they have requested young workers,” he said.
“We are negotiating bilateral labor accords. We want to reach a consensus on how much our young people will be paid when they arrive; we don’t want them to suffer.”
The President stated that he also seeks to create jobs by increasing the production of raw materials and by incorporating as many Kenyans as possible into his ambitious housing plan, which has caused a rift among Kenyans.
To alleviate the dire state of education in the country, President Ruto stated that he has allotted a greater sum of money than in previous years for the construction of schools and the hiring of teachers.
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He added that he intends to improve the quality of education in centers for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), universities, and other institutions of higher education with the additional funds.
“I have added Ksh.65 billion to the education budget in this year’s budget.” We have allocated 650 billion Kenyan shillings for the education of our youth, from primary school through university. “This is why we have allocated a substantial budget,” he said.
“I have included funding to hire 25,000 teachers, and next year I will hire even more because we have a deficit of up to 110,000 teachers.” We must narrow the gap”
The Ministry of Education received the lion’s share of the Ksh.4.5 trillion budget, receiving Ksh.628 billion for the 2023/2024 Fiscal Year.
The allocation to the State Department for Medical Services and Public Health increased from Ksh.141 billion to Ksh.141 billion, while the allocation to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) increased from Ksh.15 billion to Ksh.30 billion.
Additionally, the government allocated Ksh.81,9 billion to Equity, Poverty Reduction, and Women and Youth Empowerment Programs to support entrepreneurial endeavors.
In addition, it allocated 338 billion shillings to support the operations of the Defense, National Police, National Intelligence Service, and Prisons during the fiscal year.
Ruto’s Plan: Tackling Living Costs & Unemployment in FY 2023/24
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