Robust debate on taxes shows Kenyans have become more civic-minded

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung'u. [File, Standard]

In the lead-up to the last general election, William Ruto, the United Democratic Alliance presidential candidate, who is now the president, promised a conversational shift from ethnic coalitions as the basis for political mobilisation to economic questions like growth, inequality and development.

The other candidates too showed a deliberate and genuine effort to depart from the political script of yore and promote policy-based campaigns. Raila Odinga pitched for his health plan which he christened Babacare and a monthly stipend for unemployed Kenyans while George Wajackoya made the economics of Marijuana legalisation the cornerstone of his campaign.