Politics
I Will Draw Lessons Shared With Magufuli To Transform Kenya – Raila Odinga
ODM leader Raila Odinga has said he will draw lessons he shared with the late Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli to transform the country.
Raila said he was the secret key that helped Magufuli unlock the economy of Tanzania and helped him identify the loopholes he needed to seal to spur economic growth and fill public coffers.
Speaking in Suna West, Migori County, the ODM leader vowed to fight corruption which he blamed for the myriad of problems facing the country.
“I was Magufuli’s advisor and he would even call me at 6 am in the morning to ask for my input on issues. I told him where he could get money,” said Raila.
He claimed that after Magufuli was elected, he spent several days giving him tips on how best to unlock the country’s potential.
“I stayed with him for one week when he was elected. I told him the loopholes to seal to help him generate money for the country,” said Raila.
And among the lessons that he hopes to draw from Magufuli’s leadership to help Kenya grow include the fight against corruption.
“In our country, our main enemy is corruption,” said Raila.
The ODM leader said that he would promote development in the counties under a programme dubbed Uchumi Mashinani even as made a case for his social protection fund.
“I said that I know where we will get money to support the social protection fund. We must change how we are moving as a country,” said Raila.
He also said that he would prioritize education and job creation as part of his agenda for the country.
“We must make sure that we invest heavily in Education. Everyone should have access to education. It will help unlock employment opportunities and also encourage self-employment,” said Raila.
The ODM leader dismissed Deputy President William Ruto’s bottoms-up economic model saying it can never be the solution to the problems Kenyans face. He maintained that it was important to empower young people.
Raila promised to introduce tax reliefs for businessmen and also introduce healthcare insurance for all Kenyans.
The ODM pledge to ensure that factories are built across the country with each sub-county having at least a factory to create employment opportunities.
“Health sector is also an area that we must revamp. We must ensure that everyone is able to get access to healthcare regardless of their financial status,” said Raila.
He faulted Ruto’s generous donations to churches saying it was unrealistic for someone earning Sh2 million a month to spend Sh100 million monthly on donations.
“He takes the donations to church and claim others are waganga,” said Raila.
The ODM leader used the opportunity to rally his Nyanza backyard to enlist as voters in their numbers to ebanle him clinch the presidency.
He urged ODM supporters and aspirants to maintain peace and assured of free and fair nominations.
“Do not heckle an opponent. If you don’t like them, wait for the ballot,” he said.
Deputy President William Ruto has vowed to that his government if given the mandate to lead the country in the August 9 polls will deal with hands-on with ‘State capture.’
According to the Presidential candidate, state policies are being used to facilitate the theft of public funds as corruption had been absorbed into government.
DP William Ruto made these calims while speaking to the Reuters in an interview.
“We have no intention of prosecuting President Uhuru Kenyatta, but we have every intention of dealing with State capture. It cannot be business as usual,” the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate said.
DP Ruto’s running mate, Rigathi Gachagua also alluded to said State capture, saying those involved will be dealt with should Kenya Kwanza form the next government.
“We will not go after individuals. We will go after all those in state capture and conflict of interest,” Gachagua said in a joint media broadcast.
The Mathira MP vaguely explained that it was “people in power who have used or are using their offices to use up public resources to their advantage,” when asked who or what State capture was.
The DP has also revealed plans of bringing to end the Kenya’s national debt, which currently stands at Sh9 trillion, in an exclusive interview with international media.
He said the country has the capacity to handle the debt situation, and that they as Kenya Kwanza have mapped out plans of how to go about it, should they win.
“We will put the brakes on more borrowing. It may not come to zero but we will begin the journey to slow down on more borrowing,” the DP said.
Campaigns hit fever pitch and candidates scramble for airtime to sell their agendas with just eighteen (18) days left as Kenya will soon be headed to the General Election.
Sonko has increased the intense in the race for Mombasa county which already has aspirants from the UDA and ODM parties.
Sonko has finally been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat.
On Thursday, July 14 2022, Sonko in the accompany of his supporters was given the green light.
The former Nairobi governor was invited by the IEBC to submit his letter for clearance as per a letter addressed to him earlier.
“The venue will be the IEBC Mombasa County offices and you are expected to submit your papers on July 14, 2022 between 2pm and 4pm,” Swalha Ibrahim the returning officer said.
The letter to Sonko came after a high court ruled that the politician doesn’t be disqualified from vying for governor noting that the governor was eligible to run for office. The commission said it could not head to the courts to appeal the decision as time could not allow.
Addressing the media after the clearance, Sonko said his candidature seeks to solve the problems of the people in the Coastal city and that he was bringing a new awakening in the city.
Sonko said he was not worried about the short time time line he has to undertake the campaigns in the large city noting that he was drawing a campaign schedule to begin immediately.
“We must campaign, we have few days but we will utilize them properly. We can do two days per constituency or a day per constituency,” Sonko noted.
Communications Officer at Refugee Consortium of Kenya
Enterprise Architecture at Safaricom Kenya
