Nairobi — President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended his decision to use the military in accelerating reforms and development in key government departments.
Speaking during the 59th Madaraka Dy Celebrations at Uhuru Gardens, his last in office, President Kenyatta stated that the results of the initiative have been outstanding.
“When we took over in 2013, some of the state corporations were rotten from the core and to the core”. We had to “… drain the swamp” from the inside-out,” he recalled.
He stated that when the disciplined forces were given the Kenya Meat Commission to manage, “they turned it into a profit-making enterprise in record time.”
“But we had to balance this ‘clean-up’ exercise with accelerated performance. That is why we turned to the disciplined forces and summoned them to the course of nation building.”
He further cited the Kenya Shipyard Limited which had collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption.
“Last year, we handed it over to the disciplined forces. Today, this Corporation is poised to be the largest shipyard in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
He stated that this is evidence that in an environment that is not contaminated, anything is possible.
“If we could build this museum using the disciplined forces in only 22 months instead of 10 years and restore the glory of Nairobi using the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), it can be done!”