Get ready for the bitter reality after poll victory

The attention of those seeking to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta is now entirely on putting final touches to their campaigns for the August 9 elections.

This is the prize they hope to bag in less than three weeks.

The new President will definitely come from one of the two leading coalitions, Kenya Kwanza, whose candidate is Deputy President William Ruto, and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance, which is fielding ODM leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Both have assembled teams that have been crisscrossing the country selling their agendas.

They have been dangling goodies they promise to deliver if elected.

The reality, however, is that the winner will not celebrate the victory for too long and must hit the ground running.

They must worry about the apparent public scepticism on election campaign promises.

Among those waiting to face the victor in next month’s elections is the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is already preparing a bitter pill for President Kenyatta’s successor.

The global lender wants populist gestures such as the petroleum and electricity subsidies scrapped.

The two leading candidates have been promising to lower the prices of basic commodities, reduce the cost of lending and offer interest-free loans to youth and small-scale enterprises.

What they are not saying is where the money will suddenly come from.

If it is the loans from the IMF and other lenders, the conditions will be stringent.

The IMF has approved an additional Sh28 billion lending, bringing total loans since April last year to Sh142 billion.

However, it comes with unpopular austerity measures.

The new leadership will have to renegotiate the tough IMF conditions to cushion the majority of poor Kenyans against the high cost of living. 

The country deserves leadership that will boost economic growth and development and relentlessly fight corruption while curbing wastage.