- The ODM boss says economic growth alone is not enough to address inequalities.
- He proposes that the state supports vulnerable groups through interventions aimed at alleviating suffering.
Image: TWITTER/RAILA ODINGA
ODM leader Raila Odinga has pledged to roll out an ambitious social policy that he hopes will ease the economic burden on special categories of struggling citizens.
In a new plan developed by his think-tank, Raila wants to put millions of economically disadvantaged Kenyans at the centre of his agenda to deal with inequalities in the country.
Raila's social safety programmes are targeting at least four categories-people living with disabilities, the youth, widows and orphans as well as senior citizens.
Also in the special category list are village elders.
This is different from the Sh6,000 that the former PM has said will be given to poor families with no income at all every month.
Under this ambitious plan that Raila terms, “the biggest social welfare programme in Africa”, thousands of clan elders will take home Sh2,000 monthly stipend.
With statistics from the national government administration showing that there are nearly a million village elders in the country, Raila’s programme would cost Sh2 billion monthly.
The village elders work as volunteer public servants, yet they play an integral role in public governance at the grassroots including representing national government interests.
On Monday, Raila routed for an elaborate social protection system that takes care of the vulnerable groups in society saying economic growth alone cannot meaningfully address inequalities.
Raila has promised to establish a welfare state, if elected president, pledging to put the millions of economically disadvantaged Kenyans at the centre of government aid.
At the same time, the ODM boss is planning to expand the current cash transfer to the elderly to tap all Kenyans above the age of 70 years.
Raila also wants to enhance the elderly kitty from Sh2,000 to Sh4,000 monthly, tipping senior citizens for a major boom if he is elected President in the August 9 polls.
There have been concerns that the current scheme is skewed with most elderly people in rural areas across the country unable to access the Inua Jamii programme.
Some regions are said to have been isolated in the enrolment of beneficiaries.
A report by International Budget Partnership (IBP) Kenya conducted last year showed that up to 233,576 elderly people missed out of the cash transfer programme in the 2020/2021 financial year.
The ODM boss also wants to initiate reforms to the Youth Fund, a government agency giving cheap loans to business people including the youth.
The fund has been decrying low uptake of the funds despite government efforts to sensitise the youth on the availability of the finances on loan terms amid concerns over stringent regulations.
Raila is promising to revamp the kitty and push for changes to the regulations to enable young people access the loans as individuals without having to be in groups.
Raila’s main point is that the economy cannot take off if the youth are not active participants through business and that they must be allowed to access credit without tough conditions.
“When those businesses have taken off, that’s when they will be required to pay. Instead of tarmacking and looking for jobs, you become an employer,” Raila recently told a youth caucus in Nairobi.
In his programme, Raila wants all people living with disabilities put on a monthly government stipend to cushion them from adverse economic effects.
Data shows that although there are about 900,000 people living with disabilities in the country, only 47,000 are benefitting from the state’s cash transfer programme.
The current programme which was launched in 2011 only targets adults and children with severe disabilities.
But Raila wants to expand the net to bring on board all those with disabilities but without any government employment to also ensure that they experience a decent living.
Also targeted in Raila’s massive social protection programme will be widows and single mothers, a big chunk of population shouldering the burden of raising children without fathers.
Statistics show that this category has a population of nearly a million widows across the country operating through various umbrella organisations.
In his recent campaigns across the country, Raila has vowed to improve the lives of widows and single mothers saying he will put them on a monthly stipend to support them.