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KOT to Ruto: Lower cost of living before introducing cheap phones

By Wangu Kanuri November 11th, 2022 2 min read

President William Ruto on Thursday announced that the government was working on a plan to have locally manufactured mobile phones in the next year.

The gadgets would cost less than Sh5,000, adding that the move would see Kenya boast of the cheapest smartphones in Africa and coincide with the government’s plan of leveraging technology.

Speaking at the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Annual General Meeting in Nairobi, Dr. Ruto cited that making the country fully connected technologically was among the primary agendas of the Kenya Kwanza government.

“The real last mile in technology is the gadget and already we are working with Telcos so that we can have a smartphone that is going to be less than Ksh.5,000 and that can do everything you want,” he said.

“We want to see if we can get it to Ksh.3,654 ($30) or Ksh.4,872 ($40). I want to promise the country that in the next 8 to 12 months we will have the cheapest smartphone in Africa, manufactured in Kenya.”

However, Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) asked him to beef up security and lower the cost of living, saying the cost of basic commodities was at its all-time high.

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Others praised his innovation, saying it was a step in the right direction.

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While commissioning the Housing Project in Kibra, the Head of State asked Kenyans to be patient with him as he worked round the clock to lower the cost of living.

Saying that the cost of maize flour was a consequence of the old regime, Dr. Ruto shared, “The (Unga) prices went up because of the mess created by the former government but I will resolve that in the next year. We’ve started the process by giving farmers 1.4 million bags of subsidized fertilizer.”

However, during the campaigning period, Ruto promised to lower the cost of unga blaming former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga for the high cost of living.

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