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On Tuesday, former ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo released a comprehensive scorecard of his achievements during his tenure, which ended abruptly with his dismissal.
In his review posted on X, Owalo confidently highlighted several significant digital and strategic accomplishments. He listed 14 major achievements, including the ministry being recognized as the least corrupt by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Owalo reported that under his leadership, over 17,668 government services were digitized in just one and a half years, surpassing the initial target of 5,000 services in five years. He also announced the distribution of 16,804 digital devices to 274 digital hubs and the training of 516,505 youth to create job opportunities nationwide, resulting in the creation of 152,711 digital jobs.
He boasted of establishing 1,360 Wi-Fi hotspots across all 47 counties and overseeing the local assembly of 1.5 million smart-enabled phones, with 579,000 units already sold. Additionally, Owalo founded the Open University of Kenya in October 2023, which has admitted 3,289 students for virtual learning at Konza Technopolis.
Other achievements included rolling out 10,219 kilometers of fiber-optic cable and restructuring the model to use Kenya Power’s transmission lines. He also began re-engineering the Postal Corporation of Kenya into an e-commerce and logistics hub and facilitated 1,018 audio-visual productions under the KBC Studio Mashinani program.
Owalo highlighted his efforts in bringing over 94 ICT providers, innovators, and private partners to collaborate through Konza Cloud, which offers customized website design solutions. He also led the creation of Sector Working Groups (SWGs) that reviewed and submitted policies, rules, and regulations, successfully securing the approval of 20 Cabinet memos.
Owalo’s tenure ended following President Ruto’s dismissal of his entire Cabinet amidst widespread youth-led protests demanding greater accountability and transparency from the Kenya Kwanza government. A new batch of Cabinet nominees has been announced, awaiting vetting and approval from Parliament, but Owalo was not included in the new lineup.
