The National Economic and Social Council will be expanded to include more ministers and representatives from the private sector.

President Kibaki said the move will enable the council, which is a think-tank of experts, to be more representative so that it could help the government achieve its desired economic goal of between eight and 10 per cent annually.

Said the Head of State: "We want the economy to grow by up to 10 per cent and we also look up to this council to come up with strategies to achieve it. We will increase the number of members from the public and private sector so that they can start sitting before its next meeting."

Good job

The President who was inaugurating the second national economic and social council at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi praised the previous team for a job well done.

They were the brains behind the Vision 2030 economic blue print aimed at moving the country towards becoming a medium income state from an under developing nation.

Said the President: "The legacy of the first council includes the conception and promotion of Vision 2030 as well as the initiation of several innovative policies.

"These include ideas on creation of a Metropolitan ministry for Nairobi, infrastructure bonds, value addition in agriculture and changing the face of the capital city among others."

President Kibaki also praised the first council saying its input contributed to the improvement of the economy from 0.6 per cent in 2002 to seven per cent.

He said he expects that the new mix of old and new council members would create a rich blend of experience and new thinking on how to achieve its economic goals by 2030.

President KIbaki said the NESC was charged with a more difficult task of raising the economy's performance further to eight per cent by 2010 and 10 per cent by 2012, to set a foundation for the realisation of the Vision 2030.

Some of the challenges the council was told to tackle was the unemployment of three million youth, noting that 800,000 enter the job market every year.

Mass employment

"The council should use ingenuity and intellectual resources in coming up with workable proposals of what must be done urgently to ensure a steady stream of local and international investments that would create mass wage and self employment opportunities for the young people," President Kibaki said.

He asked the council members to give poverty and inequality issues priority saying they were at the heart of most of the social challenges facing the country.

President Kibaki noted that devolved funds such as the Constituency Development Fund and the Local Government Transfer Fund had made an impact but more was still expected of the government.

The new team of 40 members includes Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the two deputy prime ministers, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta (Trade) and Mr Musalia Mudavadi (Local Government), several ministers and representatives from the private sector.

Mr Mudavadi announced that members had proposed during a inauguration meeting on Saturday that a mandatory national youth service be re-introduced to curb unemployment.

Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta sent apologies as they are away on a foreign official trip. Ten ministers attended the brief ceremony.