Jubilee's President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Nasa's Raila Odinga (right). [Photo/Standardmedia.co.ke]
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday said Kenya is a proud nation that does not need to beg for basic commodities like books for school children.
The President said this as he warned Kenyans that the opposition will grind down the country and take it backwards to become a begging nation fraught with ethnic animosities.
He said the opposition is also treading on the same path they used in the past to incite ethnic animosity, a problem the Jubilee Government has been busy correcting for the last four years.
President Kenyatta cited his rival Raila Odinga’s promise to stop the digital learning program started by Jubilee and to replace it with books sourced through donations.
“When we are supplying school children with digital learning devices he is saying that he will suspend that and instead look for book donations for our children. This is not a country to beg for donations,” said the President when he addressed Jubilee supporters during a meet-the-people tour of Kirinyaga County.
He said the opposition has no concrete plan to change Kenya for the better but is instead engaging in rhetoric backed with no agenda.
The President said the Jubilee Government has invested in the construction of 57 Mega Dams in the country and this is set to boost food production in the country.
“Next month we will start the construction of Thiba Dam which will double the production of rice in Kenya. Meanwhile he is singing hakuna unga (there is no maize flour),” said the President.
“He has no idea on how to boost Kenya’s food production but is only shouting about the shortage of maize flour to get political mileage out of it,” said the President who was accompanied by Deputy President William Ruto and Kirinyaga leaders.
The President said the Jubilee Administration’s plan to facilitate the construction of 500,000 low cost affordable houses in five years across the country cannot be compared to the opposition’s empty promise to reduce rents.
President said his Administration has also issued more than 3 million title deeds as part of its plan to empower people to own and develop their land.
He said all these measures are meant to bring down the cost of housing and thereby reduce rents. The President said the Jubilee Government has also laid down plans to create more jobs and wealth so that Kenyans have incomes that will enable them to pay for their needs comfortably.
“Our competitor is just saying he will reduce rents and when asked how he will achieve that goal, he has nothing to say and just repeats his statement that he will reduce rents,” said the President.
The President said his Government has been following a systematic process to bring tangible and transformational change in the country unlike the opposition which makes statements on the spur of the moment just to woo people.
He cited the case of the reforms undertaken in the education sector by the Jubilee Government over the last four years, which will see Kenyans enjoy free secondary education beginning next year.
“In the first year we increased capitation, in the second year we started connecting all schools to electricity, in the third year we started free exams and in this fourth year we have started the expansion of school infrastructure. Next year we will start free secondary education,” said the President.
The President preached peace as he urged Kenyans to reject attempts by the opposition to incited ethnic animosities for selfish political reasons.
“While we are correcting the problems they caused and urging Kenyans to unite, they are busy inciting people against each other,” said the President.
He said Odinga was misguided in making hateful and illegal calls that Kenyans should not co-exist peacefully wherever they live.
The President spoke as he traversed Kirinyaga County where he also popularized the Jubilee Party Manifesto he launched Monday evening.
Earlier, President Kenyatta opened the Kirinyaga Nitrogen plant constructed by the national Government at a cost of Kshs 150 million, a centre that will boost livestock production in the county and create jobs for the youth.
The President addressed rallies in Kianyaga, Kutus, Kerugoya, Baricho, Kagio, Sagana, Makutano, and Wanguru in Kirinyaga County.