President Uhuru Kenyatta has today told off Standard Gauge Railway critics, saying it’s a worthy investment that cannot be stopped. While addressing stakeholders at Transport Summit at State House, Uhuru said that the laid out transport projects will go on.
“Infrastructure is a necessity if our economy is to grow and if we are to achieve the prosperity we desire as a people and as a nation. We cannot run away from it,” he said. The president was also quick to defend the infrastructure related debts arguing they would pay off in the long run as they are meant to boost the economy.
The president was irked when a member in the audience questioned the Transport CS James Macharia on the economic repercussions of massive borrowing to fund infrastructure pointing out that it would have made more economic sense to invest the 370 billion poured in the SGR in revamping the current railway.
The president said out that several Asian and other countries have flourished economically from their heavy investments in infrastructure. He said the countries were economically challenged a few decades ago but have since grown after massive investments were channeled into infrastructure.
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“I just want to pose a question to those who challenge us when as a country or as a continent [we] are investing in infrastructure. Where are they today? Where are those nations today? They are among the fastest growing nations in the world. he posed
He added that such nations have grown because they chose to ignore their critiques and channeled their own path to prosperity, adding that some institutions have been used over the years to curtail liberal thinking . “They ignored the World Bank, they ignored the IMF. Today they actually have their own banking institution, a development bank growing their economies,”
The question was motivated by a recent article in the Economist magazine, which quoted World Bank officials skepticism on the economic returns from such a venture. “The challenge we have is to ensure that we invest properly, to ensure that we invest in corruption free projects, to ensure that we utilize the resources in that sector in the best possible manner. It is not whether we should do it or not, because to do it we shall.
He also called on neighbouring countries to rise up and make the region interlinked. He further challenged local contractors to invest in modern technology of building roads thus bringing them to the level playing field with international contractors who have been awarded major local tenders.
