Uhuru: Political wrangles derailing growth

Uhuru says the opposition is sabotaging the economy

What you need to know:

  • President and his deputy were on a three-day tour of Kitui, where they launched several projects.

President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday warned that persistent political wrangling was embarrassing Kenya on the global stage and derailing economic growth.

Mr Kenyatta said adverse international media coverage of deaths of people during street demonstrations by opposition leaders against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was casting aspersions on the country's political stability among donors and foreign investors.

Addressing wananchi in Mwingi in Kitui on the second leg of his three-day tour of the region, the president urged Cord leaders to put the country’s strategic economic interests first.
“Bad politics is derailing our economic growth and we are embarrassing ourselves on the international stage,” Mr Kenyatta said after commissioning the Mwingi Campus of the Kenya Medical Training College.

The president appealed for unity in tackling challenges bedevilling the country.

Mr Kenyatta, who was accompanied by Deputy President (DP) William Ruto and 12 Members of Parliament including six from the Wiper Democratic Movement, said he had offered to dialogue with the opposition to save the country from constant wrangles.

“Whenever I meet foreign investors, they always raise concerns on the nature of our politics where we are always quarrelling as a country” he said.

He said he will make another trip to Ukambani in three weeks to launch other projects including the controversial Kitui-Kibwezi road.

Mr Ruto said the opposition should stop posturing and issuing fresh demands on the IEBC dialogue and nominate their representatives to the talks.

President Kenyatta said his administration wanted to work with Ukambani leaders to accelerate development and improve the lives of residents. He singled out implementation of water and road projects as top items in his vision for the region.

“We are keen on lifting the people of this region out of poverty and we want to work with you to achieve that goal,” President Kenyatta said.

He spoke during a meeting with Ukambani leaders and professionals at Nuu trading centre in Kitui where he commissioned a number of projects, including the newly-completed Nuu Technical Training and Vocational College.

Noting that lack of water was undermining the Ukambani region’s potential to produce surplus food, President Kenyatta cited his commissioning of the Sh2.2 billion Masinga/Kitui Water Supply project, the ongoing rehabilitation of the 59 kilometre Yatta Canal at a cost of Sh2.2 billion and the Sh2.9 billion water project in Mavoko as part of the Sh10 billion initiative by his government to address the water problem in the region.

Speaking on behalf of the residents of Kitui, the leaders – including Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu and his Mwingi North counterpart John Munuve – said they have tasted the fruits of working with the government and will not be convinced to abandon their stand.

Speaking earlier in Murathankari in Meru, where he presided over a harambee before joining President Kenyatta in Kitui, Mr Ruto led Jubilee MPs in demanding that Cord stops weekly protests against the electoral commission as they were hurting the economy.

He likened the effects of the demos to Al-Shabaab attacks.

“There is no difference between the deaths and destruction of property caused by the protests and terrorism,” Mr Ruto said, adding that the country was losing billions of shillings due to the disruptions.

The DP was concerned that despite the government agreeing to Cord’s calls for dialogue on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Opposition had come up with new conditions.
Mr Ruto, who was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Jacob Kaimenyi (Land), Joe Mucheru (ICT) and Judi Wakhungu (Environment), said the talks must be done in conformity with the Constitution.

Reporting by Kitavi Mutua, Benedict Mutuku and Lucas Barasa