Musalia Mudavadi unveils his ‘uchumi bora’ economic model

Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi on Saturday unveiled an ambitious economic blue-print that he said would prioritise job creation, fight corruption and reduce public debt as he seeks the country’s top seat in next year’s election.

Mr Mudavadi who has already announced his candidature for the presidency, yesterday said that if elected, his administration will not only create millions of jobs for Kenyans, but will also restructure the ballooning public debt, weed out corruption and bureaucracy in government as well as generate enough funds to sustain and run the economy without much borrowing.

He said that his job creation plan will focus on a model known as “uchumi bora kwa wote na pesa mfukoni or a better economy; that works for all,” that will target clear, decisive and practical steps for accelerated economic recovery and revival to create jobs and opportunities for Kenyans.

“While pursuit of long-term strategic goals is critical for sustainable development, the immediate well-being of Kenyans is paramount before the prosperity envisioned under “uchumi bora kwa wote na pesa mfukoni” .  The immediate economic concerns of Kenyans under the model are crystallised under National Economic Recovery Plan Priorities,” said Mr Mudavadi. 

The ANC party leader, while also poking holes on the bottom-up approach being propagated by deputy president William Ruto, said that previous policies adopted by the government were impractical and failed to cater for the needs of Kenyans.

Economic agenda

“What is being proffered to Kenyans as economic agenda so far are but sly unscrupulous slogans bereft of serious reflection. Kenya is already a market economy; how then do you supplant this reality with whimsical models?”

“Some so-called models suggest a welfare state. Before you can think welfare state, you must first build sovereign wealth. Unfortunately, those who put our people in this economic pit are throwing pieces of silver at them in the hole and telling them to get to the top. That’s bottom-up for you whose moral is, you cannot get out of the pit they threw you into to reach the top using the pieces of silver thrown at you,” he added.

Mr Mudavadi also promises to fight corruption both in government and in the private sector, as well as reduce the bureaucracies and the red tapes that have been termed as the stumbling blocks for small enterprises in the country.

On the country’s growing debt, Mr Mudavadi said that he intends to not only restructure the already borrowed funds, but also revise the current tax regimes to generate more funds, while at the same time ease pressure on small businesses that have been paying heavy duties for their products and operations.

“Kenya is broke. Government is borrowing to pay salaries; businesses have closed or downsized; the country is experiencing the worst period of high levels of unemployment; and punitive taxation has increased the cost of basic commodities,” said Mr Mudavadi.

Flailing economy

He added: “My immediate task in office will be to resuscitate the flailing economy as part of the process of recovery and then embark on measures for economic stability and growth.”

“We must prevent economic meltdown by scaling down on commercial loans and debt-financed capital projects, reschedule debt, and not increase taxes.”

The ANC leader also said that his administration will prioritise agriculture, which is the country’s economic backbone by introducing incentives to farmers and businesses, carry out far-reaching agrarian reforms as well as transform agriculture activities into industrial business concerns.

Other priorities, he said, would be amendments to relevant laws so that the Auditor-General’s reports to form the basis of economic crimes criminal investigation and prosecution, a revision of fees for students to improve access to education as well as the revival of small and medium enterprises in the country.

“Uprooting the corrupt and dismantling their networks that run across the private and public sectors will be a top priority of ANC government. This will also mean strengthening the human resources, technological and fiscal capacity of investigative, prosecutorial and judicial agencies,” said Mr Mudavadi.