President Uhuru Kenyatta is today expected to give his much awaited annual State of the Nation Address with many Kenyans expecting him to extensively address the Corruption menace in the Country.
The President’s administration has been rocked by various mega corruption scandals with a number of Key officials in his Cabinet implicated in Various scandals.
It remains to be seen how the President will go about the corruption menace. Will he sack more Cabinet Secretaries or will he scratch their back?
The ongoing war on corruption has created division in the President’s ruling Jubilee Party with Today’s address being probably the first time that the President will be addressing Parliament when Jubilee troops are divided, with one faction backing his deputy’s bid to succeed him while the other is vehemently opposed to it.
The latter Jubilee faction has found willing allies in Opposition legislators, particularly those of Raila’s ODM party.
It will be interesting to watch how the two factions will behave today, or whether the President, who is the party leader, will address the division in the party, which, observers say, could undermine the delivery of the government’s development programmes, especially the Big Four agenda.
Away from Jubilee politics, the President could address the expected withdrawal of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) from Somalia.
Reports have it that Kenya has been slowly pulling out its forces from parts of Somalia, a move which has been questioned by Amison member states.
The related matter of the diplomatic spat between Kenya and Somalia over territorial waters dispute is likely to feature in the speech.
In February, Kenya recalled its ambassador in Mogadishu for consultations over a maritime border dispute that involves lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits.
The President will most likely use the speech to update the country on the strides taken in the implementation of his flagship projects under the Big Four agenda.
With less than four years to go before the end of his second and final term, Uhuru will need to assure the country that the agenda is on course.
The implementation of the National Integrated Information Management Systems (NIIMS), otherwise known as “Huduma Namba”, is also likely to feature in the address in the face of complaints by senators that it is being implemented without the necessary legal structures.
The President’s speech is in fulfilment of Article 132 (1) (c) of the Constitution which requires him to address a special sitting of Parliament once every year, or at any other time, on measures taken and the progress achieved in the realisation of the national values, referred to in Article 10 of the Constitution.