- In an interview with the Star on Thursday, Mudavadi said he is the one who triggered and pushed the debate around the economy.
- Says he is talking models but offering practical solutions.
ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi has accused his opponents of plagiarizing his economic ideas.
In an interview with the Star on Thursday, Mudavadi said he is the one who triggered and pushed the debate around the economy as an issue that the country would have to face in the 2022 election.
“Isn’t it now clear that all of them (presidential aspirants) are now gravitating towards it because that is what the ordinary Kenyan wants to hear? Sometimes I listen, after I have spoken to something, it is hidden and when a competitor speaks to it, it is blown up and yet they have plagiarized from me," he said.
“There is a lot of plagiarism in this game that once you speak, somebody jumps into it and gives the impression that it is them who have spoken to the issue yet in reality, we had addressed this issue much earlier. You only need to look at the NASA manifesto and what they are talking about now,” the ANC boss said at his Musalia Mudavadi Centre office.
Even so, Mudavadi sustained attacks on DP William Ruto’s bottom-up economic model, saying it is only giving an academic approach to Kenya’s problems.
“We have serious challenges and where we are going to is not about models because they are used for simulation of numbers and so forth. What we are looking at are the challenges Kenyans are facing."
"I have consistently said the cost of living is too high, there are high levels of unemployment, we have seen excessive debt, which has translated into punitive taxation on Kenyans and to a situation where government is continuing to crowd out the private sector from lending money to the citizens. This is what is hurting us,” he said.
To deal with this, he said, there has to be the rescheduling and restructuring of debt so that Kenya can move can move away from expensive to concessional debt paid at a low interest rate over a long period.
“I have been saying this but people choose not to listen. We need practical moves, for example broadening the tax base, not adding more taxes. We will then have the ability to lower the tax rate and thus more money in Kenyans’ pockets, hence the slogan “Uchumi bora na pesa mfukoni”.
“So, I am not talking models but offering practical solutions. We shall have to rationalise our public expenditure. Let people not make commitments they cannot finance,” the former Vice President said.
The Star: If you become President, how long will it take to get Kenya out of the debt trap?
Mudavadi: It will take quite sometime because there is little space for maneuver. Unless we are creating jobs fast in agricultural sector, transport and other sectors, we are going to have a challenge. Remember 70 per cent of the revenue we collect is going into debt. So, when we talk about bottoms-up or trickle down, is that really going to solve these problems?
What has happened to the Youth Fund, Women Fund? Why has it failed? So when you say you will create another fund, what about the existing funds? When you say you will introduce better policies, you got to ask yourself, who was sitting in the Cabinet and formulating the policies that are now making life difficult?
Corruption continues to be a bottleneck towards Kenya’s development and prosperity. How do you think you will win the fight?
Corruption must be tamed and to do this, I have constantly said there is need to resource the justice system appropriately— the Judiciary, the Office of Director of Public Prosecution, the EACC, the DCI, the Auditor General, anti-money laundering. We need to resource them so that they have appropriate human resource and technology to fight corruption.
The Auditor General has to audit the counties and parastatals. The office gets roughly Sh3 billion, EACC about Sh3 billion, the DPP, about the same amount. What is it about this magic figure that is about three billion? To fight corruption, we must ensure these institutions are properly resourced and financed.
Do you think there is progress in the the war on corruption under President Kenyatta?
People are worried about the anti-corruption institutions, and the excuse has been that the system doesn’t work properly because they are not adequately staffed and resourced.
The Auditor General has many institutions to audit. The Auditor General’s report is essential in the war against corruption because it is the legal basis of determining whether there have been misappropriation or not. So, if the auditor has a backlog, you have cases being dealt with 10 years later and that way, you kill the spirit of the Kenyan people as they feel nothing is going on.
You have maintained you will be on the ballot in 2022. Kalonzo has also said he will stop at nothing. Who between yourself and Kalonzo will it be?
That can only be determined further down the line.
But from where I speak from, ANC as a party has endorsed me for the presidency. I have no otherwise but to respect the resolution of the party.
If a decision is made its you to be on the ballot, is there a risk that Kalonzo’s supporters will bolt out and/ or vice versa?
If we live in fear, we can never move forward. We need to know that in politics, there are risks and we must be prepared to face and take them. That’s the reality of it. We have been in other coalitions before where we faced the same challenge and we overcame.
Raila and OKA principals have been meeting President Kenyatta. Is Uhuru the one controlling his succession and not you as presidential aspirants?
The people of Kenya will make a decision on who will be their President in 2022 through the ballot. Any other issue, as far as I am concerned, would be a personal wish or desire among individuals, which might not necessarily translate into what the Kenyans’ wish is.
Are we going to see a three-horse race - Raila Odinga, OKA candidate and William Ruto?
That would be presumptuous because officially, individuals have declared their intentions. But as to who are the candidates, will only be determined when the IEBC will receive the documentation. That’s when we will know how many candidates will be in the race.
Is there a possibility you will work with Raila again?
I chose not to answer that question today because it is always about ‘will we work with him?’ Have you guys asked him whether he is willing to work with us?
I am focused on the presidency and conversations are continuing by different players, which will culminate in documentation at a later stage.
Even as you bid for the presidency, Western region does not appear united behind you. Does this concern you?
Isn’t this a tired question? It is a tired question in the sense that it is always harped on during an election time and it unfortunately stereotypes the people of Western Kenya as people who cannot unite. It has now boarded on being unfair to the people of Western Kenya.
In 2007, we marshalled support and the majority voted for Raila. Were they divided? The other election in 2002, Wamalwa Kijana marshalled and the people voted overwhelmingly for Mwai Kibaki. Were they divided in spite of various political parties? In 2017, we marshalled them and they gave Raila their vote.
But there was a split in 2013 between you and Raila?
And what would you say of Mt Kenya region when Paul Muite was on the ballot, Martha Karua was on the ticket, Peter Kenneth of the ticket and of course Uhuru Kenyatta? Were they divided? It was a democratic process and the majority chose to go with Uhuru.
So, in all fairness, you cannot stop or prevent anybody to contest but at the end of the day, the voter will decide where they want to lean.
When we had (James) Orengo contest against Raila through the SDP, would it have been fair to say the people of the region were divided? No.
Let us get out of that narrative.
What I believe is happening is that someone is running scared that whereas the Western community has been united in voting for a candidate from outside the region, they have no problem. But they are now worried that this time round, the people have shown resolve that they are ready to stand behind a candidate from their region, hence the narrative.
As President, what would your foreign policy be like?
In terms of foreign policy, we need to be clear that we want to enhance our trade and earnings from international trade, as well as broaden our investments in the region. If we are to create new jobs, we have to figure out how we will access new markets and adopt new technology.
We will also have our embassies empathise more on investment programmes other than the usual political agenda. In the region, for instance, we need to go to the DRC in a strong way, we need to strengthen the East African Community.
-Edited by SKanyara