• Mudavadi said the external forces that have negatively impacted the cost of living in the country require sound policies and not mass action.
• He cited the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict as the catalyst of the dire situation Kenya finds itself in today, a factor he said is not anybody's doing in government.
Image: MUSALIA MUDAVADI
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has weighed in on Azimio's launch of mass action saying the cost of living will not be lowered through street protests.
Speaking on Thursday hours after Azimio leader Raila Odinga officially activated defiance against the government, Mudavadi said the rising cost of living is not Kenya Kwanza's making as insinuated by the Opposition.
He said the external forces that have negatively impacted the cost of living in the country require sound policies and not mass action.
"It is not the number of demonstrations that we shall hold, it is the sound policies we shall put on the table that will reverse this process," Mudavadi said.
He cited the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict as the catalyst of the dire situation Kenya finds itself in today, a factor he said is not anybody's doing in government.
"You and Kenyans who are here with me, we have nothing to do with the battle in Ukraine and Russia. It's a battle several miles away."
Mudavadi said the war has disrupted the global supply chain leading to a spike in the prices of basic commodities due to increased shipping costs.
The Russia-Ukraine war which crossed the one-year mark on February 24 has destroyed important infrastructure and caused logistical problems by halting port operations in Ukraine.
The war has also resulted in increased freight insurance costs and high fuel prices owing to the trade restrictions imposed on Russia by rich nations opposed to its invasion of Ukraine.
Mudavadi said the ripple effect of this anomaly has hit the global economy and countries around the world are feeling the shockwave.
"Insurers cannot provide cover for some of the ships that are supposed to go and pick cargo in that belt because it is too high a risk and if they do the insurance goes higher," Mudavadi explained.
He was speaking at the People Dialogue Festival held at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi.
The Prime CS differed with Azimio's call for mass action as the remedy to the prevailing problem saying it's beyond the government's control.
In his declaration for the mass action which he said will officially start on March 20 in Nairobi, Raila said the Kenya Kwanza administration failed to act within the 14-day ultimatum and lower the cost of basic commodities and fuel.
He termed the Kenya Kwanza government as an illegitimate regime whose time to continue imposing punitive policies on Kenyans was up.
"This illegitimate regime heartlessly removed subsidies to Unga, electricity, petrol, diesel, paraffin, bus fare and school fees. This has made life unbearable to almost every Kenyan.
"Today, we make good our promise to Ruto and his illegitimate Kenya Kwanza regime. We unleash the people's power for action and launch the movement for the Defence of Democracy," he said.
Raila said the civil disobedience will take the shape of peaceful picketing, peaceful protests, boycotts, strikes, disobedience, peaceful petitions and peaceful sit-ins.
"As your leaders, we commit to fight, resist and defy this illegitimate regime side by side with you until our voices are heard and respected," he said.