Ruto MPs accuse Jubilee of stifling businesses
Lawmakers allied to Deputy President William Ruto have made a scathing attack on the Jubilee Party administration, accusing its leadership of stifling the businesses and agricultural sector.
The lawmakers yesterday said through systematic government actions mostly designed towards Private Enterprise gain, people in Mt Kenya region have been impoverished and millions of livelihoods destroyed.
“Many of our traders and business people have deliberately been driven into poverty through Government policies coupled with unprecedented high handedness,” the MPs said in a statement issued after a meeting held at Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah’s residence.
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Statement added; “Our people have never felt and been this impoverished since pre-colonial Kenya.”
Legislators claimed that dairy farmers, miraa, rice, ndengu, potatoes, maize, horticulture, pyrethrum, avocado, macadamia, tea and coffee farmers, traders and industrialists have all suffered immensely under the supervised hands of monopolistic cartels, an unfair business environment and business-insensitive directives.
“Our business community has literally been wiped out of business. Our individual and communal enterprise ruined by a system largely driven by contempt coupled with a strong sense of entitlement,” the statement.
Bitter tears
The leaders said that from downtown-Nyamakima’s imports and export traders who had hopes of State support to grow their businesses into cottage industries, they have been left to watch in dismay, sheer anguish and pain as their lifetime savings, capital borrowed from banks went up in flames under the guise of their imports being counterfeits.
“Today, they shed burning bitter tears of pain as banks auction their properties.
Acres of newspaper advertisements of these property auctions bear us witness,” the MPs said.
MPs also said it was a sad state of affairs that necessitated the coming together of the 62-elected leaders from the region last week seeking to re-engineer the model of engagement between them and those from other regions.
“We seek to restore our nation’s economy back to the trajectory that President Mwai Kibaki left it at,” stated the MPs.
They were speaking during a meeting between them and Ruto where they discussed and resolved to open formal negotiations with the Deputy President, whom majority of their constituents identify with as their candidate of choice.
“Our people trust Ruto to carry their aspirations of economic recovery and growth of free enterprise, while also appreciating that the economic recovery agenda will transcend the current administration,” they added.
The negotiations will be divided into two parts; with part one addressing the economic agenda of the 11 counties and part two on the regions’ political interest.
The MPs also resolved to set up committees with representatives from each county to steer the discussions to be centered on our citizens’ issues and aspirations.
“We want a candid engagement with Ruto on matters of economic recovery and measures we will take to restore our people’s economic power and create jobs for our young people,” the lawmakers elucidated.
They said their discussion will be centered around job creation, enterprise development and business support incorporating the transition from imports to cottage industries and onward to manufacturing.
The leaders announced last week that they have initiated talks on position sharing and revival of the economy of the region in case the latter wins the presidency.
The first meeting was held at Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua Karen residence and brought together 48 MPs.
Gachagua told People Daily the talks were centered on gains the region will enjoy under the Ruto presidency. “We want our region to be guaranteed minimum returns under Ruto presidency.
All agricultural sectors are on their knees and we want him to tell us what he will do to resuscitate them,” Gachagua said.
