NASA princiduring the manifesto launch. [Photo/ The Star]
One of the key pledges in the NASA manifesto is legalizing illicit brews, such as chang’aa, which has in the past caused many deaths in the country. NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who was roundly criticized over the plan to make the dangerous local brews legal, seems keen on creating a country of drunkards, and not a working nation. Making chang’aa legal will lead to more avoidable deaths, render the youth less productive and contribute to more family dignity. About two years ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta took a bold step in mounting a nationwide campaign to end the rampant alcohol consumption, following regular reports of people dying or becoming blind after drinking the local brews become too common. The campaign ended chang’aa consumption in Kenya. Raila’s idea to put the illicit brews in front of young people looking for jobs to make their lives better will be taking the country back. The other sections of the NASA manifesto were largely borrowed from the Jubilee document, launched on Monday evening. The copied ideas include provision of free secondary education, which President Uhuru Kenyatta has promised to roll out from January next year. “I only saw a photocopy of what jubilee unveiled, especially in terms of what we offered to deliver on free secondary education,” said Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki. To solve the food maize flour shortage in the country, NASA plans to open up the National Cereals and Produce Board centers to collect and store maize. The problem with this approach, as Senate Majority Leader Kindiki rightly noted, is that there is no maize to collect. The NASA blueprint is too generic and lacks timelines on when goals are to be met. For example, the document says they will lower the P.AY.E taxes, without indicating by how much and how the government will raise the needed revenue to meet the promises made. Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa summarized what the Raila team presented to Kenyans: “A document long on empty rhetoric and short of any specific deliverables to the people of Kenya.”While Jubilee has been investing in boosting local food production by introducing irrigation in arid and semi arid areas, the NASA manifesto does not even mention irrigation.“The manifesto failed to address how it would tackle food shortage. It did not mention irrigation, which is one known way of alleviating food problem in the country,” noted Kiharu MP Irungu Kang’ata.