Kindiki: $15.1bn reserves, 75 million maize bags — do not politicise the plan
Key points
- DP Kithure Kindiki spoke 12 August 2026 at KICC’s Beyond Vision 2030 conversation, citing Prof Hiroyuki Hino on joining wealthy nations.
- Figures he gave: forex reserves $15.1 billion; inflation from 9.6% at takeover to below 6%; FDI $3.2 billion last year.
- Agriculture: 7.2 million farmers registered; maize 44 million bags in 2022 to 75 million last year; more tea, sugar and processed milk.
- Education: funding Sh500 billion (2022) to Sh784 billion this year; 100,000 teachers hired; 23,000 classrooms built. Biggest risk, he said: “policy disruption.”
“The biggest threat of African countries, the biggest threat of developing countries, is policy disruption.” Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said that at KICC on Wednesday 12 August 2026, launching a “Beyond Vision 2030” talk, Eastleigh Voice reported.
He pointed at Prof Hiroyuki Hino in the same hall: Kenya and Africa can “venture into the league of wealthy, developed nations” if leadership holds. Then he stacked numbers. Foreign-exchange reserves, he said, are $15.1 billion. Inflation, 9.6 per cent when the administration took office, is now below six. Last year’s foreign direct investment: $3.2 billion. On farms: 7.2 million farmers registered so the state can see where they are, what they grow and what fertiliser they need; maize from 44 million bags in 2022 to 75 million last year, plus more tea, sugar and processed milk. Education money, he said, went from Sh500 billion in 2022 to Sh784 billion this year, with 100,000 teachers employed and 23,000 classrooms put up. “We can politicise everything else. Let us not politicise the development of our country.” He also said Kenyans should stop treating development as a campaign colour. A podium statistic is not a KNBS release. The $15.1 billion, the 75 million bags and the Sh784 billion still have to match Treasury and agriculture circulars. Continuity is a political ask — Parliament writes the next budget, not a KICC applause line.
A bag count is not a silo receipt
Forty-four to 75 million bags is the claim to audit. Agriculture CS should publish the year and the mill-gate series beside Kindiki’s 75.
Kenya news: Kenya News. Verified 12 August KICC date and the dollar, bag and shilling figures as Kindiki stated them, via Eastleigh Voice.
CBK should confirm the reserve print. TSC should confirm the 100,000-teacher hire window.
Readers should open the primary series before treating 75 million bags as settled.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of Kindiki’s 12 August KICC speech. Figures are the DP’s claims in that account.
