Raila Odinga terms President Kenyatta's address a gimmick
National Super Alliance co-principal Raila Odinga in Nyeri on March 6, 2017. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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In a statement from the United States, he said the President painted a glowing picture of his government’s tenure but avoided real issues Kenyans would have wanted answered.
The ODM leader claimed that the economy was shrinking and cited Kenya National Bureau of Statistics that businesses started or acquired within the last two years accounted for 61.3 per cent of the total businesses closed.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga on Thursday termed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation address as a gimmick for an election season.
In a statement from the United States, he said the President painted a glowing picture of his government’s tenure but avoided real issues Kenyans would have wanted answered.
“Reports by the very government he heads indicate that the number of Kenyans facing starvation has risen to 2.7 million in 2017 compared to 1.7 million last year,” Mr Odinga said.
“The Jubilee administration has sent appeals for food aid all over the world. Famines are caused by the failure to mitigate droughts,” he said.
The ODM leader also claimed that the economy was shrinking and cited Kenya National Bureau of Statistics that businesses started or acquired within the last two years accounted for 61.3 per cent of the total businesses closed.
He further said that pension funds and other investors in the Nairobi Securities Exchange lost Sh120 billion in 2016 alone.
On public debts, Mr Odinga said Jubilee took over a nation with Sh1.5 trillion debt which has ballooned to Sh4 trillion and rising.
“As a Kenyan, has your income increased two and a half times since Jubilee came to power,” Mr Odinga asked.
He questioned the growth in energy saying the cost of electricity “stands at an average of Sh17 per kWh compared to Tanzania’s Sh12 per unit, Egypt’s Sh11, Ethiopia’s Sh9 and South Africa’s Sh6.
The politician asked where the 7,000km of roads constructed in the last four years were.
“It is clear the government is lost and struggling, just when we thought the government has the road map. Such is our fate as a nation. The task ahead may look herculean, and indeed it is. The future may look bleak.”
