NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 9 – Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has unveiled his five-point agenda which will form part of his manifesto as he formally launched his 2022 presidential bid.
The former Vice President who is keen on succeeding President Uhuru Kenyatta in the August 9, 2022 General Election noted that his ambitions are clear and that he means business.
“More than ever before we can only realize the Kenyan dream through an honest and trustworthy national leadership,” he said as he also launched the Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka Command Centre in Nairobi.
To ascend to power, Musyoka outlined his agenda for economic recovery and development, agriculture, zero tolerance to corruption, sustainable debt management and youth and women Empowerment as pillars that will guide his presidential bid.
“We cannot elect leaders who seek to exploit our fears for their own political survival. How else will one propose a meaningless economic model that does not reflect his life journey? We must properly diagnose what ails Kenya and develop blueprints that work,” he said in an apparent reference to Deputy President William Ruto’s Bottom-Up economic model. Ruto has also declared intentions to vie for the presidency.
Musyoka who leans towards the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) that comprises of Amani National Congress Party Leader Musalia Mudavadi, FORD Kenya’s Moses Wetangula and KANU’s Gideon Moi said, “Our biggest investment is to secure the unity of this nation.”
A candid Musyoka told delegates who attended his launch including Members of Parliament allied to his Wiper party that his government will make life bearable by designing an innovative taxation system that will not reward the rich but one that rewards “the millions of Kenyans struggling to pull themselves up through wealth redistribution”.
“I want to assure Kenyans that fixing our economic meltdown is doable and achievable. While doing this, what I hear Kenyans to be saying is that they want a government that protects them from harm, not one that hurts them,” he said.
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Musyoka promised to institute tax breaks for companies creating thousand of jobs for Kenyans and eliminate capital gains tax for start ups and small medium enterprises that will create jobs for the youths.
He also proposed that he will review and institute measures on viability of Kenya’s oil resources and eliminate dozens of taxes in the oil value chain.
While affirming his support to Musyoka and the One Kenya Alliance, Mudavadi noted that they will do everything possible to get it right this time around and form the next government.
“We want to invite other Kenyans and we want to stand for the common good of our nation. We will work together and eventually through God’s grace I am sure that the door shall be opened and Kenya shall rise again,” he said.
Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa and KANU’s Executive Director George Wainaina who represented FORD Kenya Party Leader Moses Wetangula and KANU Party Leader Gideon Moi pledged their support to Musyoka and committed to ensure One Kenya Alliance ascends to power in 2022.
Political realignments have become the norm of the day with candidates seeking to succeed President Kenyatta racing against time to forge formidable partnerships.
Besides Musyoka, other candidates who have also declared interest for the county’s top job include: the Deputy President, ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga, Mudavadi, Wetangula, KANU’s Moi, former Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade Development (UNCTAD) Mukhisa Kituyi, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and businessman Jimi Wanjigi.
Ruto who has since parted ways with President Kenyatta and by extension the Jubilee Party has since declared that he will use the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as his preferred vehicle in 2022.
Odinga who is not a member of the One Kenya Alliance is banking on the support of President Kenyatta whom they share a cordial working relationship from their March 9, 2018 handshake.
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The former Prime Minister has however, not ruled out the possibility of teaming up with his former principals in the now defunct National Super Alliance (NASA).
