Kenya’s Jubilee Party has been in office since 2013, and last year won re-election. But has it delivered on the promises it made ahead of those two elections? We tracked key ones.
Within five years, put a million acres of land under modern irrigation
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto Kenya currently has 470,000 acres under irrigation, according to January 2018 data from the National Irrigation Board. This means that some 530,000 more acres would need to be irrigated in 2018 in order to reach the 1 million-acre target. -Africa Check, May 2018
Target a 7-10 per cent growth rate in the first two years of the Jubilee Government
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto This was meant to help create a million new jobs for the youth, the party said. According to the Economic Survey published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the economy grew 4.5% in 2012, 5.9% in 2013 and 5.4% in 2014. In 2015 it expanded 5.7%, 5.9%… Read more »
Raise the transition rate from primary to secondary to 90%
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto In February 2013, the then-coalition promised to raise the transition rate from primary to secondary school to 90%, while improving transition rates from secondary to tertiary and university level. It however did not give the period it intended to do this, leaving an open door given it won… Read more »
Increasing the national budget allocated to the counties from the current 15% to 40% within the next five years
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto Kenya’s 2010 Constitution provides for equitable sharing of money between the national government and the country’s 47 counties. The counties became operational at the start of the government’s first term in March 2013. They are stipulated to receive “not less than 15%” of all revenue collected by the… Read more »
Increase the police-citizen ratio from 1:1,150 to a ratio of 1:800 citizens within five years
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto The police-population ratio indicates the number of police officers serving a community, relative to its size. For example, if a community has 1 police officer serving 100 people, the ratio is 1:100. The 1:1,150 police-citizen ratio dates back to at least 2007 when the International Monetary Fund calculated… Read more »
Increase the paved road network from the current 11,000km (7%) to 24,000km (15%) in five years
Progress

When made: February 2013 Where made: Party manifesto Kenya had 11,230 kilometres of bitumen roads in 2013, according to data in the 2014 Statistical Abstract published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. This closely matches the 11,000 figure used in the 2013 Jubilee manifesto. However, significant variations in official data mean that confirming the… Read more »
Increase the number of foreign tourists from 1.1 million to 2 million by 2020
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto In 2013, the party (at the time a coalition) promised to double the number of tourists visiting Kenya to three million a year. Tourism is a major earner of foreign exchange for the country. (Note: In the 2017 manifesto, the ruling party revised this target to a more modest… Read more »
Expand the free primary school programme to include free day public secondary schools in Kenya
Progress

When made: 2017 Where made: Party manifesto In 2016, there were 2.72 million students enrolled in Kenya’s secondary schools, according to the 2017 Economic Survey. Providing tuition only, with no lunch or uniform, at KSh22,244 per student (the approved rate by the education ministry) comes to KSh60.5 billion. Africa Check calculated the cost of free… Read more »
Ensure that at least 33% of all government and parastatal appointments are women
Progress

When made: 2013 Where made: Party manifesto According to a 2012/2013 report on the state of the public service, published by the Public Service Commission, the composition of the public service was 69.63% male and 30.37% female. In 2017, the civil service had 70% men and 30% women, according to a December 2017 report by the commission. In… Read more »
Ensure every citizen is connected to reliable and affordable electricity (on or off-grid) by 2020
Progress

When made: 2017 Where made: Party manifesto According to the 2013/2014 Kenya Power annual report, in June 2014 there were 2.77 million electricity connections in Kenya. Of these, 1.69 million were domestic customers. (Note: A breakdown of how Kenya’s electricity consumers are categorised can be found here.) In the utility firm’s 2016/2017 annual report the number of electricity… Read more »