Poverty Will Be History, Says PNU

from All Africa

The Nation (Nairobi)

NEWS

Party of National Unity leaders said on Wednesday that Kenya will achieve the status of a middle-income country and consign poverty to history if President Kibaki is re-elected.

To achieve the status, they said a PNU government will build new factories, expand infrastructure and train more people.

This is what their manifesto spells out, they said in a statement read by Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju at the party's media centre in Nairobi.

President Kibaki will launch it on Saturday at Nairobi's Uhuru Park.

They said several jobs will be created due high economic growth.

According to the statement, the manifesto also outlines the need to improve lives of Kenyans living in slums.

"We must attend to slum dwellers and speed up our housing programme. We must ensure they have better access to water and sanitation and to the rural electrification grid," said the statement.

He said besides improving roads, a PNU government will ensure more health facilities are put up and supplied with affordable drugs.

Mr Tuju was with Cabinet colleague Mutua Kutuku and assistant minister Asman Kamama. Others were outgoing Laikipia West MP G.G. Kariuki and Dr Josephine Ojiambo.

Concurred with critics

The minister said the manifesto outlines what is required to ensure livelihoods of all Kenyans are improved.

However, he said PNU concurred with critics that many Kenyans were jobless, but promised this to be a thing of the past once President Kibaki is re-elected.

"We all say no more poverty. No more homelessness. No to hunger. No more premature deaths," he said.

He added that once the manifesto is implemented, there will also be no more crime and insecurity.

"It's not difficult to say that we want to rid our society of these things. What is difficult is actually doing it," Mr Tuju said.

He explained that the programme of a PNU government will be guided by considerable success of the Kibaki administration.

Mr Tuju criticised other parties' manifestos saying, they only voiced what they intended to do but did not spell out how.

He announced that PNU parliamentary aspirants will meet the party's National Elections Board at Kenyatta International Conference Centre tomorrow.

Board members are expected to release the nomination timetable and explain rules that will guide the exercise. The PNU nominations will be held between Wednesday and Friday next week.