The situation changed tremendously after the 2003 general election and the coming in of the Narc government. The government embarked on a transformative agenda and put in policies to turn around the economy and improve the life of the common man (Branch 2011). The democratic space also expanded substantially and the place of strong institutions was enhanced. It is from 2003 that the ideal role of a government as demonstrated in our lecture two was realized in Kenya. In our lecture, we found that the role of a government is to provide public services and provide a favorable environment for the private sector to thrive. This approach was evident in Kenya since 2003 where the conducive environment provided by the government resulted in a very vibrant private sector that has been driving economic growth in the country.

One of the important policies put in place was the free primary education that significantly increased access to education. There was also significant investment in the infrastructure of the country and more so the road network (Branch 2011). The current government has continued the development agenda and significant expenditure in infrastructure, and the energy sector is evident (Kenya Bureau of Statistics 2016). The democratic space, especially in the era of a new constitution that has a couple of provisions on checks and balances, is still robust. The fruits of devolution are also evident across the country. The most notable changes are in the Northern Eastern region of the nation, a region that has been marginalized for long. The people in these areas are receiving services like good roads and access to water for the first times in their lives (Kimenyi, Mwega and Ndung’u 2016).

Despite the strengthening of the economy, questions have been raised on t