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“THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF KENYA VISION 2030”

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH BY HON. WYCLIFFE AMBETSA OPARANYA, EGH, MP, MINISTER FOR PLANNING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VISION 2030, TO THE UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS – AICESIS MEETING ON “MANAGING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS AS A DRIVING FORCE OF THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICIES”, NAIROBI, 7 – 8 MARCH 2011
“THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF KENYA VISION 2030”

 

Mr. Chairman

Mr. Ulrich Graute, Inter-regional Adviser UNDESA
Ms. Samira Azarba, AICESIS Representative
Mr. Julius Muia, Secretary of NESC in Keya
Representatives of National Economic and Social Councils in Africa
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

It is a great honour indeed for me to have been requested to deliver this keynote address to this international meeting on managing National Economic and Social Councils as a potential driving force for national dialogue on economic and social policies. This is a truly important priority for both developed and developing countries today, as we seek to make social adjustments to the 2008 global financial and economic crisis in the developed world, and manage the social pressures arising from rapid economic growth in such places as East Asia and, more recently, here in Africa.

 


It is therefore most satisfying to notice the national diversity and international cooperation that has gone into the preparation of this workshop. The United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UNDESA) in New York, which is an integral part of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has launched a project on “Enhancing the Role of National Economic and Social Councils for Inclusive Socio-Economic Policy Development” under which the meeting I am opening today falls. The International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions or AICESIS in short), which is based in Paris is partnering with UNDESA in this initiative. So is our own Kenya National Economic and Social Council of which I am a member, in my capacity as the Cabinet Minister presently in charge of Planning, National Development and the Kenya Vision 2030, which I will speak about shortly.
In addition to the three institutions that have organized and hosted this meeting, I wish to acknowledge the participation of African national social and economic councils from South Africa, Benin and Senegal. We also have representatives of national economic and social councils from elsewhere in the world. The international spirit of co-operation that is displayed by the institutional and national diversity represented here is precisely what we need in the world today in order to deal with the challenges of economic and social change that, as I have said, confront both developed and developing countries albeit in very different ways.

 

 


Ladies and Gentlemen: The Kenya National Economic and Social Council was established by the Office of the President through a Gazette Notice of September 24th, 2004. By way of background, I should note that the Kenya economy had gone through a very difficult phase in the 1990s, characterized by low or no growth, and a decline in real per capita incomes between 1980 and 1999. Despite the implementation of “Structural Adjustment Programmes” since 1982, the poverty ratio and unemployment had been rising. As a result of the introduction of “cost-sharing” in our schools, Kenya’s gross enrolment ratio in primary schools fell.

 

However, in 2003 NARC government introduced free universal primary education was announced in January 2003, thereby raising our primary school gross enrolment ratio to over 100 percent. More importantly, my predecessor as the Minister for Planning and National Development was given the mandate by the Cabinet to prepare a strategic plan for economic and social recovery. This resulted in the publication of the “Economic Recovery Strategy for Employment and Wealth Creation” (known as ERS) in 2003. ERS set the guidelines for our path to economic recovery from 2003 to 2007, and it was a great success. Under ERS, Kenya GDP growth rose from 0.6percent in 2002 to 7.1percent in 2007. Recovery was felt in a rise in stock market indicators, employment, especially in the informal sector, higher electricity connections in the rural areas, more earning in tourism, rising productivity in agriculture and industry, and poverty reduction. Kenyans regained hope and faith in their country.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen: The inauguration of our National Economic and Social Council in 2004 must therefore be understood against the background of these achievements. Our Government decided that Kenya needed a source or independent and practical policy advice on sustaining the momentum of social and economic development brought by the ERS. The Cabinet was also of the opinion that apart from offering practical and realistic policy advice, NESC was expected to generate a national development strategy that would be implemented after the ERS expired in 2007. The Government encouraged NESC to think “outside the box”, to be innovative, and to learn from examples of many rapidly industrializing countries in Africa (such as Mauritius and South Africa) but also in East Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.
In reading through the literature on the relationship between economic and social councils, on the one hand, and national governments on the other, one gets the impression that the councils have not generally been effective in shaping public policy. I am pleased to report that here in Kenya that has not been our experience. Our NESC rose to the challenge and it generated the idea of formulating a national development strategy that would guide the country from a low-income country in 2008 to a middle-income economy in 2030 whose citizens “would enjoy a high quality of life in a safe and secure environment”.

 

The Kenya Vision 2030 was unlike any of the 5-year economic development plans that Kenya had produced since 1964, the year following the achievement of our independence from Britain. Instead of concentrating primarily on the economy as the previous plans had done, it contained the following sections:

  1. “The Enablers” notably macro-economic stability, infrastructure, energy, security, public service reform, science technology and innovation.
  2. “The Economic Pillar” giving emphasis to sectors in which Kenya has competitive advantage: agriculture, tourism, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, finance, and business-processes outsourcing.
  3. “The Social Pillar” covers education, health, water, housing and sanitation, youth and gender policies, urban planning, population growth policies, environmental conservation and sustainable development policies.
  4. The “Political Pillar” aims to transform the Kenyan political scene from one based on ethnic-based politics into issue-based politics, and to strengthen national unity.

The Vision 2030 is to be implemented by 5-year medium-term plans, the first of which—2008 to 2012—is now nearing completion.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Kenya Vision 2030 can therefore be justly described as a profound set of policy recommendation that arose from the deliberations of our NESC, thereby indicating the seriousness with which the Kenya Government takes NESC recommendations. Despite the setback that Kenya suffered as a result of post-election violence in 2008, bringing down the GDP growth rate to 1.6 percent that year, our economy is once again on the rebound and we expect a GDP growth rate in the region of 5 percent in 2010. With the collaboration of line ministries, the private sector, civil society and our research community, the Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat has finalized a priority list of “flagship projects” among the enablers and the 3 pillars. Many of them are now at the phase of implementation; while others are at feasibility study phase or financing stage.

 


We in Kenya are making steady progress even as we remain perfectly aware of the daunting challenges we still face, like youth unemployment, the current drought, and crop failure and the damage our economy suffered as a result of the 2008 global economic crisis that was transmitted to us through falling demand for our exports (e.g. cut flowers and horticulture), and lower tourist arrivals from the countries of the West.
I am also pleased to state that the Kenya Vision 2030 also contained solutions to our social and political problems, including those that led to the unfortunate post-election crisis of 2008. The new Kenya Constitution which was overwhelmingly and peacefully approved by Kenyans at a referendum last August has strong safeguards against abuse of office and ethnic hate speech, and it also contains provisions for more equitable development based on devolution and special funds for historically-disadvantaged areas. The new constitution was actually a flagship project in the political pillar of Kenya Vision 2030. Our political leaders and civil society activists can also take credit for campaigning over many years for the new constitution. But the NESC also deserves much credit for putting it down as a top political priority and, being independent and politically non-partisan, it was able to capture the interest of the voting public.

 

If I may add something from my personal observation on the function of the NESC in Kenya, it would be the following. First, although our members are drawn from government, private sector, professional associations and civil society, our debates are always candid and we rely a lot on evidence-based policy-making. Secondly, we encourage the NESC secretariat to bring in as much expertise as it can get from specialized independent policy research centres like the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), and our scientific research centres. All this has enriched policy debate and policy-making in our country.

 


Ladies and Gentlemen: I am aware that you will be discussing various ways of strengthening institutional capacity in the national economic and social councils in Africa and elsewhere. My ministry and the Government of Kenya look forward very much to reading your deliberations and recommendations. I am also sure that our international development partners who have been working with us on strengthening the capacity of our NESC — notably DANIDA and UNDP— will be keen to join us in thinking though your recommendations and how they apply to Kenya. This is the kind of global partnership that we in the Kenyan Government deeply value. I am also certain that we who are members of NESC will benefit from your recommendations.

 

 


Ladies and Gentlemen: It now remains for me to welcome you all to Kenya. As we say in Kiswahili, our national language, “karibuni”, which means welcome all of you. Please take this opportunity to visit many of our world-famous game parks, relax at our beach hotels, or visit many of our scenic resorts upcountry. I assure you that you will find Kenyans a most generous and kind people. I wish you all the best in your deliberations.
It is now my pleasure to declare this meeting opened.

 

Thank you.

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