Why Kenyan Economy is headed Pakistan direction – Kenyan Business Feed

As 2022 politics intensify one thing that remains a tragedy is the depleting economy that the next president will inherit from President Uhuru Kenyatta who retires in August. On top of failing in most of its promises, the current regime has seriously failed in economy, eradicating corruption and creating jobs.

The damaged economy resulted from arbitrary use of power to reduce parliament into a rubber stampon major policy and governance issues. Uhuru’s erratic economic policies, Covid-19 pandemic and now the war in Ukrain are pushing Kenya the Pakistan direction where economy came to a complete a halt.

Already people are feeling the hit of rising inflation and sky rocketing food prices which creates a major threat
to the next administration which will have to rely on desperate strategies as creating crisis to increase oil prices to ensure long term recovery.

Kenyan situation worsened after the ODM party abandoned its role as the official opposition
which includes keeping an eye on the Jubilee government. They have instead gone
to bed with Jubilee government which is behind the mess which only compares to Pakistan
situation.

ODM leader is promising to carry on from the current regime which boasts of crippling national debt,
galloping inflation and weak Kenyan shilling. Economy which was already in bad shape was battered also battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

And President Uhuru Kenyatta is hellbent to have his hands firm on the next government the same way
Pakistan’s Imran was struggling to survive before he was kicked out through the vote of ‘No Confidence’.

The new Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Shebhaz Sharif, has already initiated a ‘Pakistan Speed’ to
hurry the country along development plans to heal the economy. In Kenya, the cause of the mess is meddling in succession politics despite crumbling the economy and failing to deliver campaign promises.

There has been a constant increase on the cost of power under Uhuru’s regime which is also behind increased increased power tariffs on accounts of fuel cost adjustments.

Just like Pakistan, the increase in tariff is one way Kenya Power has been used to burden consumers who still have to endure long power outages which have negative impacts on their businesses.

And now with the dire need of the next regime to fix the current mess, top presidential contenders like
Deputy President William Ruto is pushing a ‘bottom- up’ economical model arguing that trickle down system has worsened the mess.

Ruto explains the model (bottom-up) as a blueprint targeting to promote investments of ordinary
Kenyans and empowering them financially so the country can generate taxes to spur economic growth.

And while hitting back at his political opponents like Raila Odinga who will be vying for
presidency under Azimio La Umoja banner, DP explained that “hustler’s economic
model” is the cornerstone of his 2022 presidential campaigns which will replace
trickle-down approach he accuses of breeding cartels, monopolies and benefiting
a few.

The bottom-up model is anchored on programmes that promote investments and financial instruments
that targets unemployed Kenyans, owners of small enterprises, farmer groups and fishermen.

His backers also believe that model will be a solution to the widening gap between the rich and
the poor but critics including the ODM Raila Odinga have rubbished it and complained that it is a copied version of their manifesto.

Other players in the DP’s camp including ANC boss Musalia Mudavadi has also emphasized on the need
to reconfigure the economy. But Odinga who is Ruto’s main opponent is pledging a Ksh 6000 monthly stipend to unemployed youths under what he calls social protection programme.

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