Raila Odinga's third economic revolution should create a strong middle class

ODM leader Raila Odinga. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Raila Odinga’s greatest redeeming strength is the capacity to reinvent himself every few years. He has made sudden unexpected political changes that have left friend and foe confounded. His mastery of political chess is unrivalled. Last week he made a famous declaration that it's time for a “Third Liberation”, this one is economic and designed to transform the country economically.  I have a few suggestions.

First, Kenya needs to create a strong middle-class base. Kenya’s current middle class is very small and is under increasing financial pressure, which is pushing it under and back to the lower levels. Less than 2 per cent of Kenyans earn above Sh150,000 today and with the rising cost of living, even this class is now an endangered species. Interestingly, the Washington Post recently released five editorials that focus on “How to close the wealth gap from the bottom up.” There are very interesting lessons for Kenya. The editorials identified three key parameters for building a middle class. These are home ownership, enhancing access to university education and creating and encouraging pension retirement schemes.