Kenya’s Deputy President and presidential candidate for Kenya Kwanza alliance, William Ruto, during the launch of his manifesto in Nairobi
Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto unveiled his long-awaited manifesto Thursday night, pledging to bring down the cost of living in his first 100 days in office if he wins the August 9 presidential election.
Dr Ruto, facing strong competition from opposition leader Raila Odinga in the race to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, said he would prioritise investments in agriculture to increase food production locally and wean the country off expensive food imports.
He promised to support the establishment of agro-processing industries for farm inputs such as animal feeds and fertilisers, blaming the current food shortages on the government’s decision to remove subsidies and failure to implement food security policies under the president’s Big Four Agenda.
“The challenge of high cost of living can be dealt with by investing in agriculture, period. Explanations about Ukraine, I don’t know what, are tall tales,” he said.
The campaigns for the elections, which are slightly over a month away, are happening against the backdrop of economic hardships attributed to global supply chain disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine war and a mounting public debt.
Contrary to his remarks, Dr Ruto’s manifesto actually lists the war in Ukraine among factors contributing to the economic turmoil. The economy contracted by negative three percent in 2020 due to lockdowns imposed to contain Covid infections, but it has shown signs of recovery in the past two years.
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