Thank you very much. Please, you may sit down.
Our Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, our Bishop, leader of the women of faith of the ABC Church, Bishop Mary, all the other bishops, fellow leaders, women of faith, how are you?
Thank you very much, women. First, I take this opportunity to thank God for giving us this unique opportunity to unite with the women of ABC. As you know, your Archbishop Ndambuki has been a very close friend of mine, and because of that, the ABC Church has also been a church that I participate in.
I heard Mama Mary, our Bishop, say, or someone there said, that they have seen me going to the AIC church a lot, and they asked me to come to the ABC church. But my Bishop, Abraham Mulwa, is here. And if you ask this Bishop of mine, Abraham Mulwa, he often blames me a lot, telling me, 'We see you at the ABC church, we saw you at Mitaboni, we saw you there, why haven't you come to the AIC church now that you see I have problems?' But I am happy that God has given me this opportunity to unite with the women, the women of faith of ABC, in this national celebration where you have come from various places to unite, to have faith, and to build our ABC church.
I say congratulations to you. My greatest joy is that I have been told that every woman who has come here has paid for herself, has sent herself, and has come on her own initiative. You are truly amazing people, and I say congratulations.
I love working with self-driven and hardworking people because that is what is needed to build the church and build the nation. We cannot build our church if we are not hardworking people, not self-driven people. And likewise, we cannot build our nation of Kenya if we are going to depend on others. We should know that building the church depends on us. Building the nation depends on us. And that is why I am happy to be among you because you and I and many others believe in self-drive, in working hard, and in being responsible. That is how we will build our church.
And I have heard how the ABC church has come from far. It started, as you have heard, as a church for men only. And I asked the Bishop there, why were these men so discriminatory? They said there were things they were discussing as men, but things did not go far because the women were not there. But when the women united, that is when we see the ABC church has made progress.
Women of faith of ABC, I say congratulations for your hard work in making the ABC church what it is today. We were at Mitaboni. I was there when we also came for your university matters, and you asked me at that time to be able to assist in the registration matters of your university. The government should enable you to get a license to teach our Kenyan children as a university. I am happy that today your church has the Eastern Kenya Integrated University. And as the government, we have given the interim certificate for your Eastern Kenya Integrated University.
My greatest joy is that you are also working hard. I have learned that you are undertaking the construction of that church. And I have agreed that I will be your partner in the construction of that university because that university will provide learning opportunities for the children of our nation of Kenya. Not just the children of ABC, but all children from all churches, from all communities, from all corners of our nation of Kenya. And for that reason, I assure you that I will be your partner. We will do that work together with Bishop Ndambuki, as my friend will know how we will cooperate to run the construction of your university.
Also, my joy is that I have been here in Machakos. Our Member of Parliament here, Mr. Caleb Mule, has spoken about the development of this area, and I want to join the people of Machakos, the people of Ukambani, to tell you that I decided when you gave me the opportunity to be the leader of our nation of Kenya that our nation of Kenya is one nation. The communities we have here in our nation of Kenya are communities given to us by God. All parts of this nation are important.
And I said that the old politics where other parts of Kenya were discriminated against, we will break that politics and ensure that the politics of uniting all our communities and development is found in every part of Kenya because Kenyans are one.
Therefore, I have formed a broad-based government to bring all Kenyans together, and I said that what happens in the Rift Valley will happen in Eastern, will happen in Central, will happen at the Coast, will happen in the North, will happen in Western, will happen in Nyanza, every part of Kenya, because we no longer want politics of hate, tribalism, and discrimination. We want politics that unites the people of our entire nation of Kenya because it is God's will.
If you read Psalm 133, verse 1, it says how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. Verse 3 of that Psalm 133 says, where there is unity, God commands a blessing. If we unite together as the nation of Kenya, God will ensure that we are blessed and our nation will make progress. I ask the women of faith, the women of ABC, let us unite, let us cooperate, let us work together, let us unite our nation of Kenya.
Here in Machakos, because today I am here after this meeting, this Member of Parliament here, we have an activity with him. There are roads they asked me to build here in Machakos. Here in Machakos, we have eight roads that were stalled, we have unblocked them, and they are now being built. We have another seven roads that we have started. One of them is a road I am about to start now from Magavati to Iuni. And we have another seven roads here in Machakos.
Here in Machakos, as you have heard your Member of Parliament say, we have given you a budget of 35 billion shillings for housing, markets, and hostels. Here in Machakos, we are building 20 new markets. Some are nearing completion, some we are starting. And I told this Member of Parliament of ours here, Machakos Town, that the market in the center here, the town center, is a very old market. I have found 400 million shillings to build you a new market for Machakos Town.
Let us ensure that no part of Kenya is left behind. Standing here, that budget of 35 billion to build 11,000 houses here in Machakos County, to build 20 new markets, and to build hostels for our children at the university, at the TVET, at the KMTC, we want here in Machakos to build accommodation or hostels for 7,000 of our children so that education can continue in a fair way. And it is not just Machakos alone where we are doing this work. I was in Makueni the other day. I am on the move because we are doing this work in this entire area while we are doing it in our nation of Kenya, and it is because I believe in the unity of the nation.
That old politics of discrimination, hate, and tribalism, we do not want it. We want to unite our nation of Kenya. Also, while here in Machakos, besides roads, besides affordable housing, we have a power program, we have water issues. We have spoken with our leaders here. We have discussed issues that are ongoing at the Konza City because we want to use technology to push the economy of our nation of Kenya forward.
Also, I want to ask the women that every child of Kenya should not miss the opportunity to go to school. We have put a lot of money to educate the children of Kenya because education is what brings us equality. The child of a rich person and the child of a poor person become equal when they get an education. I ask the women, we have put a lot of money to educate the children of Kenya. We have been hiring for three years, 100,000 teachers, we are hiring more teachers at the end of this year because I have said we do not want a child to go to school and miss the opportunity to study. Every child in Kenya should have the opportunity to study. We have put enough money for building classrooms.
We have streamlined the CBC program, and we have also sent proposals to Parliament so that we have a funding model that will ensure every child who gets to go to university, or to KMTC, or to TVET has enough money without their parents bearing the burden of educating those children. We can ensure that there are enough resources to teach all our children that are placed in our TVETs, in our Kenya Medical Training Centers, and in our universities. All that work, we can do it together.
Also, I want to ask the women of ABC to register within SHA because in the past, many people sold their property. Some sold farms, some sold cattle, some sold property to pay hospital bills. Hospital matters became like a luxury for the rich who have jobs and have the means, and that is why I said let us create universal health coverage. Today, if you register within SHA, it means every citizen goes to the hospital, gets treated, and goes home without being asked for any money.
Every citizen here in Machakos County, my joy is that 182,000 citizens of Machakos County are registered in SHA. In one and a half years, we have sent money here from SHA, 3.5 billion shillings, to pay for hospital bills or facilities that are here in Machakos County, and we are doing it as part of the Republic of Kenya. I ask you, women, have you registered in SHA? Are you still waiting? Have you registered? Women, have you registered? Let me see by a show of hands those who have registered. Oh, all of you have registered.
And my joy is that today, if you go to a certain village, you will find an old man, a young man, or a woman saying they have been paid by SHA. If you go somewhere, you will hear they have been paid by SHA. Is it true or not? True. Is it true or not? True. Those many who say SHA is not working, they have not registered, or they have not been sick, or have never gone to the hospital. I ask you, let us stop the gossip, you register within SHA, the rest we will arrange as the government, and I will streamline those issues until the time comes when no single Kenyan will be charged when they go to the hospital.
Therefore, I thank you very much because today I have arrived here as your guest, and we still have another activity at this Scott University. I was born and raised in the AIC church, and this is our university here. We have a few issues, but we will plan. I have agreed with our Vice Chancellor here, and for that work, we have agreed the contractors will be here on Tuesday so we can build our big building for this university of ours. Yes, so that many other children of Kenya also get their opportunity to study at this Scott Christian University. I am happy and I say thank you very much for welcoming me here.
I ask you, let us cooperate and work together so that we can take our nation of Kenya forward. Finally, I ask all of us who have had the opportunity to be leaders in our nation of Kenya. A leader is measured by the work they do. A leader is not measured by gossip, words, insults, hate, or tribalism. Every leader is measured by the work they have done. I ask all leaders, everyone should work hard so that when the time comes, these citizens will know who has done the work and who is about insults, chaos, and plots, and matters of tribalism and hate. We want to make progress.
And I might say this, that as the people of Kenya, we have raised the bar of leadership. It is no longer about insults or slogans. It is about a track record, a plan, an agenda, and a program. The people of Kenya will assess every leader on account of their track record, on account of their plan and their vision. So, the people of Kenya do not need those who discriminate against us or those who divide us. Those who divide Kenyans, saying these are traitors, those are enemies, they have no place in this Kenya. This Kenya needs unity. All Kenyans are one brother, all of us.
We should, before God, and it is God's will that we all live in peace and in unity. And that is why I thank our ABC church because you have dedicated yourselves and are working hard, setting a good example for our nation of Kenya so that we can walk together. Also, I have read what you have said in that pamphlet you gave me. You have said 'medumbe' or how have you said it? Eyes forward. Eyes forward. You have said eyes forward. Yes, I say beyond 2030, eyes forward. Beyond 2030, it seems we are on the same journey. As you say 'eyes forward,' we also say the same, let us plan our affairs beyond 2030, eyes forward.
And for that reason, let us unite and join with other Kenyans. Planning the affairs of our nation of Kenya is not the work of the government alone, it is the work of the citizens. We want to know how we will walk together to eliminate hunger, to have water, to have education, to have wealth, to eliminate poverty, and it is possible if we unite and cooperate. I understand very well that many parts of Kenya need water, and that is why today we have the National Infrastructure Fund, whose important work is threefold: to put up infrastructure, to create power or electricity, and the third thing is to plan for dams so that we have enough water to produce food for our livestock and also to ensure that we produce agriculture, especially in this Ukambani area.
Fellow ABC members, I say thank you very much. I am very happy to have come here. We will come another day to discuss other matters. When you go home, greet your children and your families, and you will be blessed. You will be blessed, right? And pass my greetings to your families. Also, I ask you, have you planned for next year? Have you planned well? How have you planned? How have you planned? How have you planned? Now let me ask you, you know the end times are mentioned twice, right? This end times is mentioned how many times? It is two times, for Jesus to return again. Let us plan and be ready. Have you planned for that? For Jesus to return. Have you planned? And there is also our other term of 2027. Have you planned for that too? For the two terms, for 2027. I didn't know you were that sharp.
Okay, I say thank you very much, and I respect you all very much because today we were asked. I heard Bishop Mary say that you want to plan so that you can travel to unite women in all parts of Kenya, and you want transport matters, right? Yes. And this Bishop had given me a leakage, telling me these women want a bus. So when you come, you should come having planned, right? You know it is good to have a friend inside who leaks you secrets, right? So already, Bishop, for that account the Bishop gave me, I have put 10 million to buy a bus. So the bus, you have it now, you will go and plan. But I also have many friends here who have also planned to support that matter, right? Shouldn't they come and do that? Bishop, come here.
