Leader of the Democratic Party Justin Muturi has said that one of the first things the late President Mwai Kibaki did on coming to power was to institute a policy that forced banks to reach out to ordinary Kenyans with cheap loans.
Muturi said Kibaki, as an Opposition MP in the ‘90s had supported the then controversial Donde bill that sought to compel banks to reduce sky-high loan interest rates.
Said Muturi, “Mwai Kibaki stood in Parliament and said banks should not be allowed to charge exorbitant interest rates as was the case then. I was in Kanu which was the ruling party and opposed to the Donde Bill, and we knew once Kibaki spoke the case was over.”
He said when Kibaki took over as President, within a few months banks were sending agents out on the streets to hawk cheap loans to ordinary Kenyans after the government stopped taking loans from banks.
“We need to return to such policies that benefit wananchi from the grassroots.
This is how the Kenya Kwanza bottom-up models will work,” said Muturi who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly.
He was speaking in Nanyuki town after attending a Sunday service at the Gospel Outreach church.
Muturi told the congregants, the reason why he shunned overtures to join the Azimio la Umoja coalition and opted for Kenya Kwanza was the latter’s vision of starting development from the grassroots.
He also noted that Kenya Kwanza stands for a National Executive that is
inclusive and balanced.
Muturi said though he had offered myself to vie for the top office, he changed his perspective after he moved round different parts of the country, listened to leaders and the people and got convinced that unity behind a common purpose is more beneficial that going it alone.
Still on Kibaki, Muturi recalled that during his era, Parliament changed how Annual National Budget is made, by bringing on board the participation of MPs into the budget-making process.
On education, Muturi said the government that comes to power has a prime responsibility to revive the old status of institutions of learning in order to equalise the standard of education across the country.
He noted that 90 to 95 percent of Kenyan parents cannot afford private academies, the reason why the government has the onus of equipping public schools to bring them at par with the few academies that steal the show in national examinations.
He added: “The same should happen to the health sector. It is an important sector that must be addressed, 97 percent of the population depend on these.
That is what the bottom up will seek to address in all sectors that directly affect wananchi.
He said “Kenya Kwanza which declared its intention to address the economy starting with the grassroots upwards. The election should be about all Kenyans, starting with the most neglected at the grassroots.
A day earlier, Muturi joined Muslim faithful at Dallas Mosque in Embu town for the fast-breaking Iftar ceremony.
Muturi told the congregants that a Kenya Kwanza government would stand for freedom of worship that is guaranteed in Kenya’s constitution.
