SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

,
PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF
THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, DURING OTHAYA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL 50TH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS, NYERI COUNTY, 14TH JUNE, 014
Distinguished Guests,
Parents and Students of Othaya Boys,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me say it is a pleasure to join you today, Othaya Boys School Community,
to celebrate with you, your ftieth anni!ersary " indeed, your #ubilee$

% than& the organi'ers for in!iting us all, and most importantly % appreciate the
guests, parents and other sta&eholders who ha!e come to celebrate with us
this important ceremony$
% am pleased to note the progress Othaya Boys has made since its inception in
()*+ as a harambee school$ ,ecogni'ing its good performance, the
go!ernment started to support Othaya Boys in ()-($
.oday, the school has grown into a !e/streamed institution with a student
population of )0($ %ndeed, the school has upheld high standards of education,
and has turned boys into men of substance in this country$
Ladies and Gentlemen,
.he encouraging progress Othaya Boys has made is a re1ection of the hard
wor& by all sta&eholders, students, parents, the local community, the Board of
Go!ernors, and indeed my Go!ernment, which contributed to the school o!er
2sh$ ) million annually as 3ree Day Secondary 4ducation funds since 5667$ %
than& you all for this great contribution$
.he school has also recei!ed 2sh$ (8 million from the Go!ernment as part of
the stimulus programme adopted in 56((, which was intended to enhance
Othaya Boys academic performance as a centre of e9cellence in Othaya
constituency$
.hese contributions ha!e been rewarded with success in the 2CS4 e9amination,
with your best results, 7$)7 points, recorded in 56(($ % call upon all of you to
intensify your e:orts in order to reach that standard once again, and to surpass
it$
Ladies and Gentlemen,
,ecogni'ing the importance of education to the reali'ation of our o!erall
agenda of building a better 2enya, we ha!e deliberately enshrined in our
Constitution education as a basic right, to which e!ery 2enyan child is entitled$
.his is not a new idea; the founders of our ,epublic recogni'ed the importance
of education, and made it a priority in the ght against ignorance, and in
enhancing our people<s &nowledge$
=e also &now, all of us, that we cannot achie!e the goals of our >ational
De!elopment Blueprint / ?ision 5606 / unless we educate our young men and
women to ma&e the most of the talents God has gi!en them$
.o meet these obligations and aspirations, my Go!ernment has de!eloped a
new education policy to transform our education " ma&ing it all/inclusi!e,
rele!ant to our needs, and competiti!e with the best, both regionally and
internationally$
.he Basic 4ducation @ct, 56(0, gi!es legal authority to our policy, and a road
map for de!elopment of education in this country$
@ core point of this policy is simply to ensure that education remains a:ordable
for all$ %ndeed, my Go!ernment is committed to ma&ing education truly free to
e!ery 2enyan child, within three years$ .hat is why, in the Budget just
presented to the >ational @ssembly, we ha!e raised the allocation for free
tuition in secondary schools by 00 percent to 2sh$ 57$5 billion$
=e ha!e also increased allocation to the primary school by a third to 2sh$ (0$8
billion$ .he aim, as % said, is to ma&e education truly free within three years$
Go!ernment will also recruit 8666 teachers$
Ladies and Gentlemen,
.o reali'e a truly better 2enya in line with my promise, which % made to 2enyan,
when % and my Deputy were as&ing you to elect us, % recogni'e that we also
ha!e to ma&e pro!ision for the world into which our young men will ha!e to
ma&e their way$ .hat is why my go!ernment has identied another !e priority
areas in the budget$
3ood security is paramount$ %n this regard, in agriculture, we ha!e set aside
2sh$ )$8 billion for irrigation, and 2sh$ 7$5 billion for dams and water pans$
.he health of our people is eAually critical, if we e9pect to raise producti!ity of
our labour$ %n this regard, in health, we ha!e allocated more than 2sh$ +-
billion, 2sh$+ billion of which will go to the free maternal childcare project$
Care for !ulnerable people cannot be understated$ .o protect the !ulnerable,
we ha!e set aside 2sh$ -$5 billion for orphans and children, and 2sh$ +$) billion
for our elders " among other allocations$
Security is the bedroc& for sustainable de!elopment$ 3or this reason, in
security, our budget has set aside 2sh$ ($0 billion to house our men and women
in the police ser!ices, and 2sh$ 5$) billion to recruit (6,666 more oBcers$
Cere, let me encourage you to consider a career in the police or the other
disciplined ser!ices, because the safety of our country is our responsibility " all
of us$
@ccess to a:ordable credit is critical, particularly for the young menDwomen
who do not ha!e any credit history$ %t is in this conte9t that we ha!e
established the Ewe'o 3und$
%n addition, we ha!e set aside 2sh$ *$+ billion to support technical training
institutes, and the >FS has been reorgani'ed to eAuip our young people with
s&ills, and build their sense of nationhood$
Ladies and Gentlemen,
>yeri and by e9tension Othaya itself remains a place we !alue$ .hat is why we
are ta&ing steps to accelerate the completion of Phase % of Othaya Cospital
Project$
=ith respect to road impro!ements in >yeri, my Go!ernment is committed to
fast/trac&ing completion of all ongoing projects$
%n addition, % am happy to announce that construction wor& will begin in the
coming nancial year for another three road projects, notably Gweiga >airutia/
2ieni =est, Gatondo/2aratina/Gathira, and Gunyu >dathi/2ieni 4ast$
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me close my statement with remar&s to the school community$
.o the teachers; remember that you ha!e a great responsibility // imparting
&nowledge, and !irtue to your students$ .he li!es of these )0( young 2enyans
are in your hands$ Do not fail them$
.o parents; nurture the character of these young men, so that they ser!e their
country and countrymen well$
.o students; sweat a little as you underta&e your studies$ %t will not be easy but
% assure you it will be worth it$
Discipline your mind and character, and, abo!e all, do not allow anybody to
mislead you$ Be patriotic and true to yoursel!esH indeed, you will be rewarded$
3inally, let me congratulate all those who are going to recei!e pri'es todayH and
let me also encourage those who may not recei!e the pri'es this time " if you
wor& hard, the pri'es will be yours ne9t time$
.han& you and God bless you all