• The duo explained that prioritising essential services and reducing unnecessary government expenditure, they will be able to make life easier for the common man.
• The duo were speaking jointly during an interview with journalists from various local TV stations, on Tuesday evening.
Image: FILE
The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition presidential team have vowed to reduce the cost of living in the country in their first 100 days in office, if they are elected in the August polls.
The coalition’s presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running-mate Martha Karua vowed to reverse this by cutting down on government expenditures.
The duo explained that by prioritising essential services and reducing unnecessary government expenditure, the Azimio government will then be able to make life a bit easier for the common man.
“You can make some adjustments, when you for example cut down on some expenditures and focus on feeding the people, making it much more bearable for the local person in the country,” Raila said .
He added that this can be done by looking into essential commodities like the cost of unga, sugar, cooking oil, fuel and make some adjustments in the budget in terms of expenditure, both recurrent and development.
On her side, Karua said by the Azimio government doing that, it won’t be the first time that a government will have tried to lower the cost of living.
“During the Mwai Kibaki era, the government tried to lower the cost of living by, for instance, looking for ways of providing maize to industries at cheaper prices so as to lower the cost of flour. And once we ascend to office, we will bring down the cost of living in our first 100 days,” she added.
The duo were speaking jointly during an interview with journalists from various local TV stations, on Tuesday evening.
In a recent report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya’s cost of living registered its biggest jump in more than two years.
Since the year started, Kenyans have decried the prices of basic commodities such as milk, cooking oil, fuel, sugar among others, which have been on a rising trajectory.
Raila and Karua, however, distanced themselves on the current cost of living, arguing they are not in government and there is very little they can do to change the situation,
The former Prime minister revealed he had held discussions with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the matter and presented his ideas.
“Kenyans are not stupid, they know very well that I’m not in government. I don’t earn a salary or allowance from government, and I don’t live in a government house, but I advise. I can give some advice. It is not implementable, the user may or may not use it,” he said.
Raila added that his role in the current government is strictly to advise and dismissed allegations from his political competitors that he enjoys state privileges.