NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 20 — National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi held a low-key National Delegates Convention at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi after promising a ‘snow melting’ declaration with an appearance by a special guest.
Instead, Muturi challenged the two-horse narrative in the lead up to the August 9 presidential election as misguided, saying he would not yield to pressure to “pick the less of the two evils” between Deputy President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza Alliance and Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja.
The House Speaker who was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Kenya as its presidential candidate in the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta promised far-reaching reforms to revive Kenya’s debt-ridden economy.
Muturi indicated that his track record in the different government positions he has held before, speaks for itself and that is what will take him to State House.
“I would like to state now before the whole country that I am here because I believe in a great future for Kenya. My track record speaks for itself; I have diligently served the people of Kenya in different capacities to the best of my abilities.
“We, as the Democratic Party, offer something different from all the rest. We offer a political option that is diametrically opposed to the others. We stand for what is right, not what will give us political mileage, we stand for a prosperous Kenya and not to enrich ourselves, most of all we stand for Umoja na Haki,” said Muturi.
He blatantly faulted the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga saying a coalition between a reigning government and opposition has never worked anywhere in the world.
The House Speaker accused his political opponents of hopping from one party to another not for the benefit of Kenyans or because they share similar political ideologies but for their own political mileage
“Show me anywhere in the world in a functional democracy where a sitting government decides to join forces with the opposition to form another government with complete disregard to their own? Like it happened in Botswana some years back and you know what the results were. These are the political bad manners that I am talking about. We must stand for something and not just the pursuit of power,” said Muturi.
Key among interventions Muturi proposed is to tame government’s appetite for locally-sourced debt. This, he said, will encourage banks to led to the general public instead.
Other promises include, adequate funding to counties to ensure employment of adequate medics and a masterplan on mental health in Kenya by declaring it a threat to national development.
Muturi pledged to establish a national neuropsychiatric institute if elected President to address the mental health crisis facing the country.
“The Democratic Party of Kenya Government will declare the state of mental health in Kenya as a major threat to National development that ought to be declared a national emergency,” he declared.
