Uhuru to blame for economic woes, says Raila

Nasa leader Raila Odinga during press conference at Okoa Kenya offices on September 7, 2017. He has blamed President Uhuru Kenyatta for Kenya's economic woes. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Odinga squarely blamed the Head of State for putting the country in the worst path ever been witnessed since independence.
  • While campaigning in Meru on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta claimed the Nasa presidential candidate is responsible for the economic downturn the country is currently facing.
  • President Kenyatta told Mr Odinga to stop destroying Kenya’s economy by staging violent demonstrations seeking the removal of IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba and other officials.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has told off President Kenyatta over claims that he is to blame for the economic downturn the country is facing since August elections.

The Nasa presidential candidate told President Kenyatta in a statement on Sunday evening to stop playing the victim by apportioning blame over his failure in managing the economy.

Mr Odinga squarely blamed the Head of State for putting the country in the worst path ever been witnessed since independence.

“Nasa wishes to tell President Kenyatta to stop the victim-in-chief mentality and accept that he has caused the trouble and must take responsibility for the situation in the country,” Mr Odinga said.

“Kenya is where it is because the President and his Jubilee party tried to steal elections and were caught and stopped, thus putting the country on a path we have never travelled since independence in 1963,” the opposition leader added.

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

While campaigning in Meru on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta claimed the Nasa presidential candidate is responsible for the economic downturn the country is currently facing.

President Kenyatta told Mr Odinga to stop destroying Kenya’s economy by staging violent demonstrations seeking the removal of IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba and other officials.

However, Mr Odinga yesterday pointed out that it’s the ruling Jubilee Party that has taken actions that have created uncertainty on economic growth.

The opposition leader pointed to the latest crackdown on civil society and the Judiciary, the continued stranglehold on the IEBC, the use of State institutions like EACC and the NGO Council to crack down on perceived opponents and the creation of a police state by Jubilee as actions that always lead to economic collapse.

CURRUPTION

He added that failure by President Kenyatta to tackle corruption in his administration has ensured that his reign will end in economic collapse.

“President and Jubilee Party have deepened the crisis by pursuing a path whose result has produced nothing but economic collapse everywhere it has been taken,” Mr Odinga said.

In a strongly worded statement, the opposition leader told President Kenyatta that stolen elections and strong man tactics never lead to economic growth but only lead to stagnation and collapse of the economy.

“By the time Kenyans were done with the Kanu regime that deployed these tactics in the 1980s and 190s, the economy was at zero. The result will not be any different today,” Mr Odinga said.