Opening Remarks: Looking Forward to 2026

Distinguished guests, fellow citizens,

I have never looked forward to a new year the way I look forward to 2026. I do not say this lightly. I say it from a place of conviction born of what we have achieved together, the foundations we have laid, and the certainty that those foundations now allow us finally to reach for our highest ideals as a nation.

This has been a year that tested our resolve and our collective purpose—a year that demanded sacrifice and called for unity. As president, I am proud to say that together we rose to the occasion.

Reflections on 2025: From Stabilization to Dividends

When I addressed the nation at a time like this last year, I outlined the decisive measures we had taken in 2023 and 2024, not only to stabilize our economy but also to begin turning it around.

I said then that 2025 would be the year when we would start earning the dividends of the hard work we had undertaken together since 2023.

And indeed, looking back, this has been the year in which our deliberate choices—sometimes difficult and often demanding—began to pay off.

For the first time in a long while, Kenya is not guessing. We are not drifting. We are not gambling. We have set our targets. We have begun the journey. And we now have a clear road map to make 2026 a defining year in Kenya's history.

Tonight, fellow citizens, this is not just a customary New Year address. It is a moment that calls on all of us to seize the opportunity before us, to walk together as one people, and to complete a journey that has been delayed for far too long.

2026 will be a watershed year in the story of our republic—a turning point in our march from promise to prosperity. A year that future generations will look back on and say, "That is when Kenya changed course."

We can speak of this moment with confidence because we are not starting from nothing. We are building on a solid foundation already laid. Step by step, we confronted difficulties, carved out opportunities, and laid a strong and formidable base for the future of our country.

The Human Impact: Stories of Transformation

But the story of 2025 is not merely about numbers and statistics. It is about people—the hustlers, the mama mbogas, the boda boda riders, the farmers, the traders, the entrepreneurs, and the workers whose toil, patience, and sacrifice have begun to yield tangible results. It is the story of ordinary citizens whose lives have quietly changed in very extraordinary ways.

• Housing Improvements: Kenyans like Mama Cherusha Modoni, whose dream of owning a decent home finally came true. For years, her family lived in a single crowded room, exposed to rain and cold, indignity, and fear, never knowing what tomorrow might bring. In 2025, that chapter of uncertainty ended. She moved into a modern, affordable home with clean water, electricity, a proper toilet, and cooking gas. For the first time, her children have space to study and play.

• Universal Healthcare Access: The foundations we have laid have also enabled millions to access quality health services under our universal healthcare program. Today, more than 29 million Kenyans are registered under the Social Health Authority. Across the country, stories of care, relief, dignity, and support are being told quietly and powerfully by ordinary citizens whose lives have been transformed.

• Naomi Mutendua Kunda, a single mother of six, watched her 17-year-old daughter Lydia struggle daily with a severe and abnormal breast overgrowth that caused pain, limited mobility, and emotional distress. After learning about the SHA program through her local assistant chief, Naomi enrolled and registered her children as dependents. Lydia was treated at Kenyatta National Hospital, where SHA fully covered the cost of a specialized corrective surgery amounting to Kenya shillings 168,000, as well as all post-operative follow-ups. No out-of-pocket payments were required. Lydia has since recovered well, regained her confidence and dignity, and is preparing to resume her education in this new year as she joins Form Four.

• Christina, a 41-year-old mother of five and a mama mboga, faced a life-threatening diagnosis of stage two esophageal cancer. As a registered SHA member contributing 7,000 annually, Christine received comprehensive treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, costing 250,000, including diagnostic tests, specialized surgery, five days of intensive care, inpatient and post-operative management, and chemotherapy—all fully covered.
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These are not isolated stories.

They reflect the experiences of millions of other Kenyans who have benefited from the outcomes of deliberate policy choices.

• Agricultural Advancements: For too long, farming was a gamble rather than an investment. Farmers planted and prayed, never certain whether the harvest could even cover their initial costs. That story has changed. With affordable fertilizer, certified seeds, and the blessing of rains, yields have improved significantly. Food production rose significantly—maize is on course to reach the highest in the history of Kenya. Key earnings surged: coffee prices nearly doubled, sugar production grew as imports fell, and livestock, dairy, leather, and meat exports expanded steadily.

• Education and Employment: We expanded education opportunities through reformed systems and helped nearly a million access jobs through labor mobility and the digital economy, with many more opportunities coming in 2026 and beyond.
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Challenges of 2025: Unity and Responsibility

But even as we acknowledge this progress, 2025 was not defined by success alone. It was also a challenging year, one that tested our unity and reminded us of the responsibility that comes with freedom and democracy.

The events of June and July, and the regrettable loss of lives and destruction of property, left a stain on our national conscience. Our constitution guarantees every Kenyan the right to express themselves, to assemble, and to participate freely in our democracy. But it also imposes duties and responsibilities on citizens and leaders alike to uphold the rule of law, protect life and property, and safeguard peace and stability. Rights and responsibilities are inseparable.

In a thriving democracy, debate and dissent are legitimate and necessary. But our constitution does not license violence, destruction, or criminality. Differences must never degenerate into disorder that threatens the peace we all cherish.

Those entrusted with leadership carry a heightened duty to unite rather than to divide, to build rather than to burn. Kenya is bigger than any individual, any office, or any ambition.

This republic belongs to all of us. And because it belongs to all of us, we share a duty to protect it.

Vision for 2026: Execution and Transformation

As I announced during the State of the Nation address, 2026 marks the moment when our journey to transform Kenya into a first-world economy begins in earnest. What matters now is execution.

But to speak honestly about the future, we must begin with the truth about the present.

• Nearly four in every 10 Kenyans live below the poverty line—that is more than 20 million of our people, families working hard yet struggling to meet their basic needs.

• While we have undertaken deliberate policy interventions to create employment under the bottom-up economic transformation agenda, too many of our young people, especially those entering the job market, still wake up every morning without work to go to. This is the reality we are determined to change.
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When a nation chooses to organize its economy around work, production, and exports; when it invests deliberately in infrastructure, energy, and skills; and when it finances growth intelligently, not recklessly—something profound happens: poverty recedes, jobs expand, and dignity rises.

This is not theory. History shows us that countries like South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia made national transformation a deliberate choice.

Each organized its economy around work, industry, exports, and skills, investing deliberately in infrastructure and people. Poverty fell, jobs grew, a strong middle class emerged.

These countries were not spared hardship—they prevailed despite it.

Their success was built on elevated ambition, relentless determination, and sustained action over time.

That is the path we have chosen for Kenya. That is the future we are determined to build. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's be clear about our goals. We are committing ourselves to a measurable national mission:

• To cut the number of Kenyans living below the poverty line by half, lifting millions into dignity and opportunity.
• To cut unemployment by half, ensuring that millions of our citizens are productive, earning, and contributing to their country.

And we will do this without crushing taxpayers or saddling our children with unsustainable debt.

Key Financial Instruments for Growth

That is why in January 2026, we will fully establish and operationalize the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund—key instruments designed to underpin Kenya's transformation.

• National Infrastructure Fund: This will serve as the central engine for aligning our financial resources with Kenya's development priorities through innovative mobilization of domestic resources, strategic monetization of mature public assets, democratization of ownership through capital markets, and the disciplined growing and deployment of national savings. We will unlock large-scale private sector capital while reducing reliance on taxation. All proceeds—and I repeat, all proceeds—from privatization will be ring-fenced strictly for public infrastructure projects that generate and preserve long-term value. Every shilling invested through this fund will crowd in multiple additional shillings from long-term investors in the private sector.

• Sovereign Wealth Fund: This will, for the first time, secure intergenerational equity—saving for the future, protecting future generations from external shocks, and investing strategically to grow national wealth—giving full effect to Article 201 of our constitution.

Together, these two funds will enhance by multiples the financing of Kenya's development agenda and accelerate our bottom-up transformation as we charge forward full steam to economic freedom and a first-world economy.

Major Projects for 2026: Year of Execution at Scale

Through this framework, 2026 becomes the year of execution at scale. In this new year, we will:

• Complete the Talanta Sports Complex, ready to host major international sporting events, including the 2027 AFCON.

• Complete the state-of-the-art Bomas International Conference and Convention Center, restoring it as a premier venue for national and international conferences and positioning Kenya as the region's hub for international events.

• Accelerate the tarmacking of the 6,000 kilometers of roads already contracted and underway across the country, including the Rironi-Mau Summit road, which will be completed and open for traffic by mid-2027. I want to state that we already have resources to undertake the feasibility study to extend that road from Mau Summit through Eldoret to Malaba and from Mau Summit through Kericho to Kisumu to Malaba.

• Start the construction of several new highways countrywide, as I announced in my State of the Nation address.

• Commence the construction of the Naivasha-Narok-Bomet-Nyamira-Kisumu-Malaba standard gauge railway, creating a modern transport and logistics corridor linking Kenya to the East and Central Africa region.

• Launch the Galana Kulalu Dam—whose contract was signed yesterday—and several others as part of the expansion of our irrigation infrastructure across the country, with the ultimate objective of bringing 2.5 million acres of land under irrigation.

• Begin the construction of a modern, world-class airport at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to anchor our nation as the aviation capital of our region and boost our trade and tourism sectors.
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I've just given you a list of the things that we will do in 2026. Ladies and gentlemen, changing and transforming a country does not require a miracle. It requires a clear and bold vision and a leadership equal to that vision.

The nations that have succeeded were not exceptional by accident—they were deliberate by choice.

One bishop—I saw one bishop last week—said that if others took 30 years to move to the first world, Kenya will take shorter because we believe in God.

Addressing a National Crisis: Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Fellow citizens, allow me to address a silent but deadly crisis confronting our nation today.

Alcohol and drug abuse has become a clear and present danger to Kenya's health, security, and economic future.

• One in every six Kenyans aged between 15 and 65—that is close to 5 million people—are currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse. This is no longer a marginal issue—it is a national emergency.

• The burden falls heaviest on men and young people. One in every three Kenyan men in this age group uses drugs or abuses alcohol.

• Among young adults aged between 25 and 35—our most productive population—one in every five is affected. Over 1.5 million young Kenyans are being pulled away from opportunity into dependency.

• Alcohol remains the most widely used substance, with more than 3.2 million current users. Initiation often occurs between 16 and 20 years, and in some cases as early as seven years, exposing children to lifelong harm before even adulthood begins.

Kenya cannot grow, Kenya cannot compete, or remain secure when millions are trapped in addiction. This crisis demands decisive national action.

Accordingly, going into the new year, the government will confront alcohol and drug abuse as a national development and security emergency, backed by political will, expanded enforcement capacity, and coordinated action across government.

• Strengthened Anti-Narcotics Unit: We will establish a strengthened anti-narcotics unit within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, with operational capacity comparable to the anti-terrorism police unit—fully resourced with modern surveillance, intelligence, forensics, and financial investigation capabilities. The unit will operate as a permanent multi-agency formation, working closely with the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), the National Intelligence Service, border management agencies, county governments, and international partners. To support this expansion, the unit's strength will be boosted from the current 200 to 700 officers through new recruitment and redeployment—all trained and equipped for national operations against high-level traffickers, financiers, and organized criminal networks.

• Asset Tracing and Seizure: Asset tracing, seizure, and forfeiture will become central to every narcotics and illicit alcohol investigation. The Asset Recovery Agency will be engaged from the point of seizure, and all assets used or acquired through these activities—including cash, vehicles, land, buildings, and businesses—will be treated as proceeds of crime, promptly frozen, prosecuted, forfeited to the state, and redirected to rehabilitation, prevention, and treatment programs.

• Specialized Courts: Recognizing these crimes as organized criminal enterprises, I urge the judiciary to consider establishing specialized courts to fast-track cases, and I will be consulting with the Chief Justice on how the executive can support this effort, including resourcing, while fully respecting judicial independence.

• Border Security Enhancements: Border security will be strengthened through enhanced capacity for the border patrol unit and the National Police Service, including modern surveillance technologies to monitor movement across our borders.

• Accountability for Officials: Finally, to safeguard integrity within the security agencies, any government official—including security officers—found culpable in facilitating, protecting, or colluding with drug traffickers or illicit alcohol networks will be prosecuted and dismissed forthwith from service.

Personal and Collective Responsibility

Fellow citizens, this struggle is deeply personal to me as president and as a parent.

No law can replace parental guidance, community values, or early intervention in the lives of our children.

As parents, we must choose to be present in the lives of our children. We cannot afford to delegate our children to others. We must guide them, protect them, and intervene early before addiction takes hold. If we fail to act, we fail our children and we fail the next generation.

If we rise to this duty, we secure not only their future but the moral strength and destiny of our nation.

And just as we demand responsibility in our homes, we must demand the same at an even higher standard from those entrusted with leadership in our public life. Leaders must lead from the front.

Leadership and Accountability in the Years Ahead

I reiterate that 2026 and the years beyond will usher in a period of accountability. Leadership will not be judged by promises made but by performance delivered—not by the exuberance of youth or the longevity of service but by results and a proven track record.

Those entrusted with the privilege of leadership will be held to account for the service they render and the outcomes they deliver to the people—not for the excuses crafted to mask a poverty of ideas or a lack of ambition. The measure of leadership is impact, and that standard will apply to all.

Closing

Happy New Year 2026. May God bless you all. May God bless Kenya, and I thank you for your attention.