He sought to downplay rifts that have lately rocked the one-year-old Coalition Government, saying all State projects were on course.
The President was speaking during the launch of the Kazi Kwa Vijana National Programme in Mashuru, Kajiado District, where he laid blame on the media for painting a negative picture of the Government.
"We are working together and we will complete all the projects we started. As you can see, we are all here and we are working together," he said in reference to Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka who accompanied him to the function.
Phase one
He commissioned a Sh4.6 million dam that is part of the Kazi kwa Vijana phase I programme.
In the past few weeks, differences have emerged between Raila's ODM and Kibaki's PNU over the power sharing deal signed by the two in February last year.
ODM feels it was shortchanged and has been demanding renegotiation of the National Accord while PNU is adamant that the orange party got its fair share and that it should either shut up or ship out.
An invitation to Geneva, by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Kibaki and Raila last week exposed the differences in the coalition.
Right to summon
Kibaki's allies in PNU argued the President should not attend the meeting because Annan does not have the right to summon him. Kalonzo said Annan breached protocol in summoning Kibaki to Geneva.
But yesterday, Kibaki, Raila and Kalonzo said all was well in the Coalition Government and blamed the media for the coalition woes.
"We are working and those who think the Government is not working can see the work we are doing for themselves," said Raila.
Kalonzo also rapped the media saying it is "sensationalising" issues rather than focusing on development matters.
Only last month, religious leaders at a prayer meeting for the victims of two fire tragedies, lambasted the leaders for not doing enough in the fight against famine and corruption.
Opinion polls
Subsequent opinion polls have indicated Kenyans are not happy with the performance of the Coalition Government in tackling corruption and reforms among other things.
A survey done by Steadman indicated that more than 70 per cent of Kenyans believe that the Government has not achieved anything.
The latest survey conducted by Transparency International-Kenya indicated that 72 per cent of respondents feel the Government is not keen on fighting corruption.
"I challenge the media, civil society and politicians to focus on the challenges we are facing constructively and positively instead of dwelling on negative statements," said Kibaki.
Job creation
Kibaki said the Kazi Kwa Vijana' would provide aid for five million Kenyans and create 300,000 jobs for the youth in the next six years.
The overall budget for the programme is set at Sh15 billion over the next six months, out of which Sh10 billion would be shelled out by Government while the rest would be raised from donors.
The first phase of the project will initially involve water, irrigation, and forestry projects, and will be executed by the ministries of Water and Irrigation, and Forestry.
The projects will create about 60,000 jobs in the next six months and is projected to cost Sh1.2 billion.
The second phase will include projects of the ministries of Roads, Local Governments and Regional Development as well as those of other interested parties.
These projects will be rolled out on April 1.
The third phase will comprise projects of other interested ministries as well as those initiated by other interested parties.
The emphasis in this phase will be to employ female youth. Among others, female-oriented projects could include caregivers for HIV/Aids patients and orphans.
President Kibaki said politicking would compromise efforts to curb famine and create job opportunities.
The function was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Cabinet ministers Charity Ngilu, Hellen Sambili and George Saitoti. Assistant ministers Simeon Lesrima, Joseph Nkaissery and Lee Kinyanjui also attended the event, as did Kangundo MP Johston Muthama.
The Standard
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