Lofty speeches cannot wipe away the painful tears of hustlers and investors

President William Ruto during the first anniversary celebrations of Hustler Fund in Nairobi on Nov 30, 2023. [PCS]

In the run-up to the last General Election, this column published two letters in quick succession addressed to the incoming president. At that time, it was evidentially clear that the 5th president would either be Deputy President William Ruto or the Azimio candidate Raila Odinga.

The import of the two articles was essentially that the economy was in worse shape than the official data was reporting. Notable issues that I highlighted were a faulty public-debt vendor-driven big infrastructure development model, exaggeration of employment data to serve the political interest of the day, a growth rate that was not supported by the consequent impact on government revenues, and political cronyism that served the men in power as opposed to the electorate.

Thus, for an objective observer, there could not have been any doubts as to the enormity of the job that awaited whoever emerged winner. Maybe only our chronically tribal politicians who are devoid of any sense of basic reason.