Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is today celebrating another trip around the sun, a little over a year after exiting office.
The fourth president of Kenya, born on October 26, 1961, turned 62 on Thursday, October 26, 2023, with his birthday coinciding with the popular ‘Throwback Thursday’ social media hashtag used to share and celebrate old memories.
To celebrate Uhuru, Kenyans took to social media to wish the former Head of State a happy birthday with some taking a moment to heap praises on him for his outstanding accomplishments in infrastructure, economic growth, and social development.
“Happy birthday to the 4th President, Uhuru Kenyatta! Kenyans remember your time as President with great admiration and long for your leadership. Wishing you good health for many more years to come,” an X user with the handle @itskipronoh wrote.
Some of Uhuru’s legacy projects include:
New hospitals in slum areas
Through the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), Uhuru commissioned 19 hospitals in the city’s informal settlements in the Jubilee administration’s efforts to decongest Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Mama Lucy, Pumwani and Mbagathi hospitals.
Five of the hospitals were commissioned at the tail end of Uhuru’s administration in July 2022. The facilities include Mwiki Level III, Mihang’o and Mathare-Korogocho Level 5 Hospital.
Between February and October 2021, Uhuru also commissioned 14 Level III and IV hospitals.
The hospitals include Gichagi in Kangemi, Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Tassia Kwa Ndege and Our Lady of Nazareth in Mukuru Kwa Njenga.
Others are Uthiru, Kiamaiko, Soweto-Kayole, Ushirika and Green Park hospitals which were opened in February 2021.
Road network
Uhuru also contributed to the improvement of Kenya’s infrastructure by building over 10,000 kilometres of roads during his 10-year rule.
While marking his last Madaraka Day celebrations in June 2022, the former Head of State said he had built more roads than the previous three regimes combined.
“Our world-class infrastructure, from iconic elevated expressways to floating bridges, have put Kenya on the global map,” Uhuru said at the national event held at the newly refurbished Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi.
Electricity subsidy
Coming at a time when many Kenyans are grappling with high electricity costs, some hailed Uhuru for the 15 per cent electricity subsidy that made life bearable during his administration.
The subsidy was scrapped in December last year after President William Ruto assumed office.
Linda Mama
Another project Uhuru is remembered for is the Linda Mama programme introduced by the previous administration to protect the poor and vulnerable and improve the delivery of maternal services.
Others are the Standard Gauge Railway, Nairobi Expressway and Huduma Centres which brought services closer to the people.
He is also credited with equipping and operationalizing Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital, abolishing examination fees, building new classrooms under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), building a new port in Lamu, revamping Kisumu Port and expanding the Mombasa Port.
He has also been praised for initiating the cash transfer programme for the elderly, the Kazi Mtaani programme that provided jobs for the youth and vulnerable groups during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as tax reliefs that cushioned salaried Kenyans during the same period.
