President Uhuru Kenyatta inspects a guard of honour during his inauguration, November 28, 2017. [Photo/PSCU]
Details have emerged on how President Uhuru Kenyatta 'copied' details of a manifesto belonging to one of the 2017 presidential candidates.
Thirdway Alliance leader Dr Ekuru Aukot says Kenyatta borrowed part of his manifesto to use in his 2nd inauguration.
Uhuru's lengthy speech during his Tuesday swearing-in ceremony touched on a range of issues, including manufacturing.
According to Aukot, Uhuru borrowed his manufacturing agenda in his manifesto, and read it to the world during his inauguration.
He said the manufacturing agenda had been covered under the first pillar of his Thirdway Alliance manifesto.
"In fact, in his speech, he borrowed some ideas from the Thirdway Alliance manifesto on industrialization and power. He touched much on maximizing, buying and selling Kenyan-made goods and that was one of our main pillars during the campaigns," Aukot told an online daily.
He, however, noted that he had no issue with the case, and vowed to keep Uhuru's government on toes.
In the speech about the manufacturing sector, Uhuru said:
"Creating jobs and opportunities for our young population is also a top priority. In this regard, we will target manufacturing.
As you know our manufacturing sector is the primary vehicle for the creation of decent jobs. We will build on ongoing efforts, such as the VW and Peugeot motor-vehicle assembly plants; the fertilizer blending factories; and Wrigley in the confectionery industry. Similarly, we will target the creation of 1,000 small and medium scale enterprises in agro-processing.Over my term, we will grow and sustain this manufacturing sector, and raise its share of the national cake from 9 to 15 percent.To achieve this leap, I have directed that with effect from 1st December 2017, the power tariffs charged to manufacturers will be reduced by 50 per cent between the hours of 10:00 pm and 6:00 am. This in line with our policy of a 24-hour economy.Further, my Administration will focus on developing the following sub-sectors: agro-processing, textiles and apparel, leather processing, construction materials, innovation and IT, mining and extractives.The underlying theme will be one of value addition, as well as value- and job creation. Whether it is our vegetables, tea, coffee, oil or gemstones, our policies and actions as a government over the next 5 years will be to ensure that as much value and as many jobs, as possible are created and retained in Kenya.We shall reach out to our key trading partners to work with us to achieve a win-win outcome that enables Kenyans to get the most out of their products.This will involve negotiations to open new international markets for our products, and to attract even more new investment."