Raila rubbishes Ruto’s economic model
Raila Odinga has again dismissed the bottom-up economic model that has been popularized by his political rival William Ruto.
In a interview done after his 77th birthday, the seasoned politician who is gunning to replace President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of the August 2022 general elections, instead explained he in promising and delivering authentic and realistic ‘mwananchi’ deliverables.
“The wheelbarrow thing doesn’t make any sense to me,” explained Raila.
Ruto has in the past distributed wheelbarrows to residents in a move he emphasizes will economically empower them. He’s also advocated for the empowerment of the low income earners in what he refers to as bottom-up approach.
“I actually don’t know who conceived it, and how it’s meant to help the people. But we are talking about a serious issue. A social protection program and this is something, in the matter of debate in many societies, how it will deal with the poor of the poor in the society,” said Mr. Odinga.
Raila also discussed the bottom-up approach indicating he is yet to fully understand it.
“So even the so-called bottom-up approach, I don’t really understand it. We’re talking about dealing with society in totality. Trickle-down, we understand, helped marginalize certain parts of the country, but solving it with the so-called bottom-up, you just need to ensure that there’s fair and equitable sharing of resources across the country.”
He also expressed frustration towards the poverty related challenges experienced in the country saying that the current situation is as a result of mistakes made in the past, which he believes are rectifiable.