The opposition has been challenged to engage in constructive government criticism rather than just oppose government for the sake of it.
Veteran columnist Philip Ochieng has said that in Kenya, the attitude by majority people is that whenever it is a government initiative, then something 'must be hidden in it designed to injure social welfare.'
"Deputy President William Ruto thus did well earlier this week to “chide” the opposition for its habit of “opposing everything” that the government may propose to do," writes Ochieng in his Sunday Nation column.
He adds: "To be quite sure, all the opposition parties are duty-bound to point it out whenever they think that the Government is sleeping on the job or taking the whole nation for a ride. But the point to emphasise is that every one of the opposition’s comments on all such Government activities must come only from a position of objective knowledge of what is going on.
He notes that the habit by the opposition to gain popularity by bearing false witness to governmental activities not only harms itself but also the people.
"Where a snide comment is based only on hearsay, it is likely to raise unnecessary tempers and create a security situation that might prove extremely costly for the nation to quell," he says.
The columnist, therefore, appeals to all political parties to create a serious study group or research unit designed to create objective and quality knowledge concerning their policy initiatives.
This, he says, should be perennially useful to those in charge of a party’s planning machinery, to enable them channel their meagre financial and personnel resources accurately, appropriately and adequately.