The bottom-up economics model proposed by Deputy President William Ruto and the entire hustler nation has turned the country into a comic tailspin.
Is it bottom-up or bottoms-up, as in a toast? And just what kind of bottom are we talking about? Whose bottom? Cartoons abound of bottoms in the air.
And what kind of top? Topsy-turvy cartoons abound of tops pulled down.
Or maybe it's a top-down convertible driven by a fat cat benefiting from that model.
Is it about central planning (the centre knows best, understands the big picture), trickle-down economics, a rising tide lifts all boats?
Or is it the grassroots who don't know the big picture, speaking out in favour of people-friendly development of immediate benefit to them?
Is it either-or? Might there be a hybrid?
Anyhow, country is witnessing heightened melodrama and a comedy of errors committed by nescient leaders debating the merits of top-down versus bottom-up.
The unfolding scenario took an interesting twist last week when Jubilee Party secretary general Raphael Tuju brought the house down during a function in Murang'a as he hilariously sought to know the exact meaning of bottom-up.
What he said in Kiswahili is unfit for print and cannot be quoted in verbatim. Suffice it to say, his speech slid down into the annals of the human anatomy.
And just when Kenyans thought Tuju had treated them to enough belly laughs, Kandara MP Alice Wahome took up the baton.
The legislator’s self-esteem crumbled in the full glare of the cameras in her futile attempt to give the bottom-up model a realistic and understandable face and shape.
Wahome stammered and fumbled through her hollow explanation. She eventually got her words all mixed up.
Indeed, this game of musical bottoms-up is intensifying in tempo, indicating most people don't know what they're talking about. Those enjoying the trappings and reality of powercontinue to square off over bottoms and tops.
However, the most prominent figure in the motley cast of protagonist and antagonists has been none other than Deputy President William Ruto who has gained traction in affording the economic model a human face.
During mass at a Nairobi church, the beleaguered DP was unambiguous about who the beneficiaries of bottom-up economics would be.
"The only way to take the country forward is by empowering the downtrodden masses," he said." Those without jobs should be assisted to secure employment. Those keen on establishing small and medium-scale enterprises should be afforded help and the right platform.
“We are keen to help local farmers boost their yield, whether they produce pyrethrum, tea or milk,” Ruto said
Apparently, Ruto and his lieutenants are convinced that adopting the the bottom-up economy is the only solution to the skewed distribution of scarce resources.
In a recent tweet, the DP poked holes in trickle-down economics, saying it had failed miserably as it aids patronage and cronyism, breeding cartels and monopolies that benefit a few individuals at the expense of the majority.
On Saturday, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka trashed Ruto's bottom-up economics, terming it as a tool designed for political mileage.
During his trip to Nyandarua county last Saturday, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi cast aspersions on the viability of Ruto’s concept.
"Do not be cheated by semantics. The bottom-up approach is not realistic at all. It is risky if anything," he said.
But Ruto has since dismissed his detractors as people still stuck in the mire and muck of ethnicity, positions, power and constitutional changes.
From a policy perspective, though, the proper way to look at events is the precise opposite: has the nation benefited in anyway from top-down, trickle-down economics?
The hustler nation is convinced the bottom-up alternative will open the doors of development upwards.
(Edited by V. Graham)
