Wetang’ula: As President, I will end toxic politics and serve all Kenyans

NAIROBI: Slightly over four months ago, I launched my presidential bid in Masinde Muliro Gardens in Kakamega County.

The decision to offer myself as a candidate for the highest seat in the land resulted from serious soul-searching and wide consultations with Kenyans from different parts of the country.

Many cynics asked why Muliro Gardens, I asked them why not? The political and historical symbolism and significance of the choice is self-evident.

Through my travel across the country and through my interactions with Kenyans of all walks of life, both as a private citizen and as a public servant, I have spent considerable time listening to Kenyans and appreciating their needs.

I have soaked in the blessing that is our ethnic diversity but I have also choked on the curse that is our fractious and do-or-die politics. In Garissa, you will find young men and women who, despite having superlative CVs, remain jobless, marginalised by a system perfected by a country they call home, existing only on the fringes of the economy.

There is just no understanding how as a country, we have treated so callously sections of Kenyans. Youth unemployment has hit calamitous levels and it was about time somebody took up the challenge of addressing this problem.

In Nyanza, you will find a young mother buying sugar by the spoonful. This of course is the story of so many homes in Kenya and one we must all frown upon as unacceptable.

But to make real change and bring every Kenyan to the centre of the economy will take courageous leadership that ruthlessly dismantles market structures that exclude a majority of the Kenyans for the benefit of profiteers. That is the kind of leadership I promise to offer.

Health sector

I have been to hospitals in this country where the dead and the living share a bed for days. I have seen health centres run overflowing maternity wings without water in as many weeks. This year, I met Kenyans who still survive on wild berries and have no idea they are in Kenya because as a country, we have forgotten them and their issues.

My candidature for the presidency of the Republic of Kenya is not an exercise aimed at merely opposing any man or woman but to propose policies that will ensure we have a country that works for the mass of Kenya and not the privileged few who run around displaying obscene fits of generosity and philanthropy from wealth stolen from poor Kenyans.

I am running for this office because like many Kenyans, I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that this country is on a perilous path and, because, I have such sturdy convictions about what must be done, and I feel that as a Kenyan I'm obliged to do all that I can to save the country from imminent implosion.

Top on my agenda, will be addressing widespread insecurity and create an environment in which Kenyans and their investments are safe. My government will boost the country's national security to ensure the safety of lives, investments and properties.

We will deploy technology to prevent crime or mitigate its effects when it happens. I will also move to secure our borders and seek the collaboration of international partners in fighting the growing threat of global terrorism and its impact on our lives and economy.

My government will pursue policies and reforms geared at respecting human rights and dealing firmly with the criminal enterprise of police extra-judicial killings.

At independence, we grappled with the challenges of disease, poverty and ignorance. Half a century later, the twin cancers of corruption and tribalism have conspired to make the situation worse – more of our people are dying of largely preventable diseases and a majority of Kenyans are poorer today than they were 10 years ago.

Wealth Creation

The gap between the rich and the poor is at its highest. The only glue holding us together as a nation is our resilient spirit as Kenyans.
My candidature is, therefore, aimed at healing the country from toxic politics through inclusive governance and closing the gap between the rich and the poor through championing policies that seek the country's social transformation.

Under my leadership, I will move to restore Kenya's standing in the region and beyond. As a country, we are fast ceding our pole position in the region to other states – a development with a huge impact on our economy.

Already, the Lapsset, perhaps Kenya's biggest project is tottering on the brink of collapse as neighbouring States seek for alternative partnerships. That Kenya's closest neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi could abandon their stake in the Kenyan project, which promised shorter route and with existing infrastructure at Mombasa to collaborate with Tanzania through the longer Tanga route tells of failing diplomatic relations.

Also in the stampede out of Kenya's party are Ethiopia on the North and South Sudan – leaving us isolated and stuck with potentially Africa's biggest white elephant. I am running because from all indications, it is unmistakably clear that we can change these disastrous, divisive policies only by changing the men who are now making them.

Aware that ours today is a shameless administration that has excluded entire ethnic communities from governance, I give an undertaking to Kenyans that my Government will reflect the true face of Kenya, and will have a seat for every Kenyan on the dinner table of opportunity for growth and success.

My government will not be an administration of man-eat-man society in the words of the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere – Tanzania's founding President and respected Statesman. Rather, my government will be one built on respect for the rule of law and where all Kenyans, men and women, young and old, from every region of this nation have an equal chance.

Our people have suffered years of misrule and isolationist politics but I have complete faith in the ability of Kenyans to make a comeback and succeed when given a fair chance. I stand as an agent of change that will make sense to every Kenyan.

Under my leadership, we will work and develop capacity for counties in an effort to get services down to the people. I will pay particular attention to efficient use of public resources and fighting graft through strengthening of anti-corruption and other governance agencies.

As a government, we will ensure no Kenyan dies from preventable diseases through working with counties to ensure functional health facilities are available to all Kenyans wherever they are found and improving disease surveillance and emergency response.

I will also ensure my government implements universal health insurance for the vulnerable, poor and unemployed to ensure all Kenyans have access to affordable healthcare.

My government will develop and launch an efficient and organised social welfare programmes and safety nets targeted at Kenyans on the fringes of the economy like the elderly, the widowed, the orphans and the disabled.

Infrastructure

I will work to open and interconnect all counties to a proper road network and link business hubs in counties with a modern rail system to ease movement of people and goods to markets.

We will also be investing more in diversifying electricity generation to ensure we have not only affordable but also reliable power.

I take note that the country's unemployment rate has reached crisis levels in just 10 years – shooting from 12 per cent in 2006 to 40 per cent today. Until this is addressed urgently, our youths remain easy prey for recruitment criminal gangs.

My government will provide tax breaks to employers willing to take university graduates as interns for periods of between six and 12 months.

We will also work with training institutions to include a component of practical and functional entrepreneurship in every course. We will also invite the participation of the private sector in the incubation and assessment of this particular training to ensure it is as practical and relevant to the market as possible.

On agriculture and food security, my government will transform the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors to ensure adequate food for everyone and streamline access to agricultural markets to guarantee farmers, livestock-keepers and fisher-folk of decent incomes.

Under my leadership, we will streamline the management of the mining and oil industries with the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund fashioned along the Norwegian model.

Through the fund, we will manage large revenue inflows, invest in infrastructure, rehabilitate the environment and save for generations to come.

On environment, my government will work to restore the country's forest cover and ensure sustainable use of natural resources in a manner that benefits even future generations.

The writer is the Bungoma senator and CORD co-principal