The government will release an additional Sh2.5 billion next week to pay for debts owed to hospitals and service providers by the defunct insurer NHIF, President William Ruto has announced.

This is on top of Ksh5 billion the government paid out recently to make the rollout of Universal Health Coverage smoother.

“We are going to make sure that all our public facilities are funded so that they can roll out Universal Health Coverage,” he said yesterday at a church service at Soweto Catholic Church in Embakasi East, Nairobi.

Enough medicines

The President said the new system will ensure that health facilities have enough medicines by involving locals in the management of the facilities.

Kenyans, especially those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, will now have medical insurance under the the Social Health Insurance Fund, he said.

“For those who cannot afford to pay, the government will pay for them. Those who can afford it will pay according to their financial abilities,” he said.

On education, President Ruto said the national government has allocated Sh1 billion for building new classrooms in Nairobi county.

Each MP, the President said, has been allocated Sh58 million to build at least 30 new classrooms in their constituencies.

Overall, 16,000 new classrooms are being built countrywide in readiness for Grade Nine next year, he said.

President Ruto announced that nursery, primary and secondary schools, a tertiary institution, and a modern stadium will be set up at the famous Jacaranda Grounds in Embakasi East, Nairobi.

The 36-acre prime public property has been lying idle for a long time, and is sometimes used to host political events.

Education system

The President said he has full confidence in Kenya’s education system, pointing out that his own children have studied the national curriculum.

“It is the only way that other parents can entrust their children to a system run by the government of Kenya,” he said.

He announced that the government will soon embark on upgrading roads in Nairobi’s Eastlands area.

This will begin with the immediate repair of the dilapidated Daraja-Number 17- Masimba road, which will be undertaken by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority.

“When you return from Christmas in January, this road will be done,” he told worshippers.

Nairobi residents, he added, will soon enjoy an additional 140 million litres of water daily following the completion of the Northern Collector Tunnel and expansion works at the Ndakaini Dam.

More water, he said, will greatly improve sanitation in the capital city.

“Nairobi, as our capital city, is the face of our country. Visitors land in Nairobi first, and if they find it dirty, they leave with the wrong impression of our country,” he said.

Some 18,000 young people, he said, have been employed in the ClimateWorx Mtaani project to help clean up the Nairobi River basin and the city.

Soon, this programme will be expanded to the cities of Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret, and the number of young people working in it will more than double.

The President said all the programmes he has initiated since assuming office two years ago are meant to transform the country in the long run.

“I have no doubt in my mind that is going to happen in our lifetime,” he said.

He urged Kenyans not to be divided along political or tribal lines, adding that the broad-based government he formed a few months ago will unify the country.

Present at the church service were Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, MPs, and other leaders.