• The Tangatanga group is now politicking about 2022, against the wishes of the President, dishing out money in form of handouts to churches in the guise of “investing in heaven”.
• This should not be the case if they are really committed to the Jubilee agenda. In any case, building churches was not part of the manifesto.
Image: FILE
In 2017, the Jubilee manifesto included among others, establishing a government-sponsored apprenticeship programme of up to 12 months for all university and college graduates and creating 1.3 million jobs every year.
The government, if it retained power, committed to working with the devolved units to establish at least one industry in every county. While there is progress, many of these promises remain a pipe dream because of the political quid pro quo corruption by some selfish politicians who want to tarnish President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy.
Soon after his reelection, President Kenyatta cracked the whip and declared total war on corruption. He said he’d not spare anyone, not even his closest political ally or brother.
Acknowledging graft had hindered development for many years, and thus Big Four agenda faced the same challenge, Uhuru started by declaring that all public servants must take a lifestyle audit.
But as a way of frustrating him, some Jubilee members, now popularly known as Tangatanga, opposed him, citing lack of legal framework, and claimed the audit targeted Deputy President William Ruto politically.
The Tangatanga group is now politicking about 2022, against the wishes of the President, dishing out money in form of handouts to churches in the guise of “investing in heaven”.
This should not be the case if they are really committed to the Jubilee agenda. In any case, building churches was not part of the manifesto.
First, as the Deputy President, William Ruto should tell us how far they have gone in achieving this manifesto. It is his responsibility as a deputy to assist his boss and to shed more light on why the promised industries are yet to be built, why the internship programme has not started, why football stadiums are yet to be complete “in six months”, as he promised.
But if you raise such questions, the Tangatanga group will be in a hurry to blame the President, saying how he has failed the country.
For a country to develop, citizens must afford basic needs such as water, food, education, healthcare and shelter. That is what every leader should strive to achieve for his people.
Murang’a people are in need of water, but Ruto thinks they need churches more; hence his frequent harambee appearances and donations. Youth in Nyeri needs jobs, but he thinks they need more churches. Leaders must shun this outdated strategy of giving out large amounts of money as handouts to hoodwink the poor and the naive in churches.
Kenya will only develop and attain her full potential if the amount of energy used by these politicians in building churches is channelled to industrialisation. We need industries.
As a PhD holder, Ruto should understand that a doctorate should be about improving society and not chasing the academic kudos. Let him educate himself on what is called in social sciences the root cause analysis.
As a county, we can only achieve sustainable development by solving our problems from the root cause and not by giving out handouts as church donations.
The author is a Researcher, communications analyst