NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 7 – Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi has appealed to Kenyans to examine their presidential aspirants carefully and decide based on a proven track record to deliver so as to guarantee economic development in the country.
He castigated Deputy President William Ruto’s hustler narrative and the bottom-up economic model, saying Kenyans need empowerment not handouts.
“What we want is not a hustling nation. We want a thriving nation. We must make sure our policemen, teachers are paid adequately. We must allow businesses to grow and give them support to grow,” he said on Thursday during a luncheon hosted by the Mount Kenya Foundation (MKF).
The former Vice President challenged Kenyans to put in power leaders who can be trusted by the leadership of the country and not those who can plunder the public coffers.
He said Kenya requires leaders who want to work towards improving the lives of the ordinary citizens and one who has demonstrated respect for the rule of law.
“Who can you trust with the leadership of this country. Examine us, how many of us respect the rule of law. How many of us respect the will of the people. We must ask ourselves, who can you trust that given a position of authority, that individual who will not in any way misuse the office to visit hell and trouble on other Kenyans because they believe there is a grudge to settle,” Mudavadi said at the meeting with Central Kenya influential tycoons.
The ANC leader who spoke last at the event attended by his co-principals Gideon Moi (KANU), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) and Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) packaged himself as the “best pair of hands”, assuring that he will entrench democracy, scrap unnecessary unfriendly business taxes among other key policies that can guarantee economic development in the country. All the OKA principles spoke at the event and assured of their resolve to unite the country.
He also committed to building capacity for Small-Medium Enterprises, offering affordable loans and formulating a post Covid-19 resilience to insulate businesses.
Mudavadi urged the Mt Kenya community to pull together as a country, embrace peace and unity for us to achieve a working economy that will benefit all Kenyans.
“This initiative is important because it is introducing a new way of interacting, a new way of sieving a leadership that Kenya is going to get. The process can lead to a very united nation,” the ANC leader said.
During the Thursday luncheon, MKF Vice-Chairman Titus Ibui said they were yet to decide who to support for the presidency. “We have not made up our mind on who to support. We have not endorsed anyone,” he said.
It still remains unclear if the tycoons will also meet Deputy President William Ruto who is seeking the presidency under his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party. The group started with luncheon for Odinga month.
There has been wide speculation that MKF favours Odinga who is a close ally of President Kenyatta since their March 2018 handshake, but they denied the claim saying they are open for choices.
“Our meetings with Odinga and OKA was meant to invite them to Mt Kenya to campaign and sell their policies to the people,” the foundation said, “we have not decided on who to support. We will make that decision later and it will include consultations with the people,” Ibui said in his closing remarks at the luncheon.
One Kenya Alliance leaders when pose for a photo with Mt Kenya Foundation tycoons who invited them for a luncheon on October 7, 2021 at the Safari Park hotel in Nairobi.
The foundation however, asked politicians and presidential aspirants to respect the president.
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