- Raila calls on governors to lead efforts of increasing productivity.
- He noted special emphasis should be on small scale farmers
ODM leader Raila Odinga has challenged governors to drive the country’s efforts in expanding the national cake so all Kenyans have a share.
Raila noted that the national cake has been shrinking over the years.
He warned that the country is staring at a disaster if nothing is done to increase the productivity in the country’s 47 counties.
“Our citizens and our leaders need to come to terms with the fact that boosting productivity is a prerequisite for having enough to share while driving economic growth and raising living standards. Nothing else will work,” Raila said in a statement.
“The size of the national cake appears to have gotten smaller over the years while the number of people waiting for a share has continued to grow. That is why sharing Sh316 billion among 47 counties becomes a threat to our stability and unity as a nation.”
Raila said governors should work to ensure productivity in the counties.
“We need to see our two levels of government engage on the matter of how to structure taxation in a way that it encourages rather than hinders business, investment and growth particularly in rural areas as a matter of urgency for purposes of expanding our national cake.”
Raila also decried what he termed as systematic neglect of small scale farmers who play critical role in improving rural economies.
“Kenyans are yet to see meaningful and transformative actions in agriculture, particularly small scale farming. This is despite the fact that in the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, it became clear that small scale farmers, especially those growing traditional crops that hardly get support of the exchequer are the real feeders of this nation.”
He said that the Building Bridges Initiative should come with ways to revolutionise agriculture to boost the country’s revenue streams.