This will call for a radical change in project conceptualization and implementation. Unlike in the past where the government could get away with implementing projects without consulting local communities, the new direction entails that communities be empowered to enable them decide and implement projects that are suitable for the areas they live in.

 

The Minister for Planning and National Development, Professor Anyang' Nyong'o, said that the government was changing its development strategies to ensure that communities were involved in the management of resources and that they participated in the implementation of projects.

"We are moving away from the notion where the government used to decide on what the people needed, to a scenario where the government will be constantly in touch with the communities to assess their needs before deciding on which projects to implement in those areas," he said.

An excerpt in the report reads: "A Millennium Development Goal strategy needs to focus on rural development for a twenty first century African Green Revolution and strategies to make Africa's fast growing cities more productive."

Reacting to suggestions made in the report, government officials agree that the current bottom-down approach in decision making must change if the country is to see any meaningful gains in the development and improvement of citizens' lifestyles.

The Minister acknowledged that widespread poverty in Kenya had been exacerbated by lack of focus on priorities coupled by political patronage that sidelined communities that were perceived to be in opposition to the government of the day. He said: "The fight against poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) must be provided for in the budget and should form a pillar of the budgetary allocations in the government."

The World Bank Country Director, Mokhtar Diop, says that Kenya is moving in the right direction as its Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) is aimed at addressing some MDG goals.

"Kenya should urgently increase its pace towards completing the Economic Recovery Strategy and examine which programmes are working well towards achieving MDGs. The heart of the matter for Kenya is implementation," he added.