KENYA: Prime Minister Raila Odinga blames Bad governnace for lack of Economic Progress

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Submitted by IQ4News on Fri, 10/02/2012 - 7:59am

The Prime Minister lamented that successive regimes have mustered the art of poor leadership to deny Kenyans a chance to move forward.

By Joab Apollo

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has blamed bad governance for the problems Kenya has faced since independence.

Speaking on a tour of Tranzoia County on Thursday, Odinga said that it is a shame that at independence Kenya was at par with South Korea economically, but now risks being lumped with failed states in the African continent.

“South Korea was at par with Kenya at independence. It is now more than Kenya over 40 times. If we do not change the way Kenya is governed, it will be even a thousand times better than us. It has changed from a poor country and is now among the 68 group of nations,” the PM said at Kitale showground.

He added that Kenyans must rid the country of poor leadership that has characterized it since the fall of the colonial government.

“There are others who want us to lag behind and draw comparison to countries like Somalia and Sudan. Those are failed states. Kenya needs to be in the same league with countries like Malaysia, S.Korea and India”

The PM recalled the infamous 2007 elections which he said has denied Kenya a chance to progress in accordance with the vision his party, the Orange Democratic Movement had for the people of Kenya.

2007 elections

The PM recalled the infamous 2007 elections which he said has denied Kenya a chance to progress in accordance with the vision his party, the Orange Democratic Movement had for the people of Kenya.

“In 2007, we said we were carrying an agenda for change. We said let the work for rebuilding a Kenya free of disease, ignorance, poverty and bad leadership begins while our rivals talked of continuing with the work. No one knew what kind of work they wanted to continue with. As a result of what happened in 2007 (post-election violence), we ended up in a mixture. The grand coalition government is a mixture of ODM and PNU and does not espouse our ideals and vision as a party,” the Premier added.

Leaders present at the function urged the electorate to vote in Mr. Odinga for his track record as a reformist in the forthcoming general elections. Kanduyi Member of Parliament Alfred Khangati reckoned that for Kenya to move to the next ladder, it needs the best of the best.

“Kenya needs the best of the best. A leader who does not practice tribalism and a reformer who can help us implement the new constitution we voted for. I tell you today that Prime Minister Raila Odinga is the best,” Khangati said.

Investment and Development

Bungoma Politician Major John Walukhe said that the people of Bungoma have made up their mind to elect in Mr. Odinga because of the ideals he stands for.

“The people of Bungoma have decided that this year is Raila’s. Raila has suffered in his quest for justice and democracy for this country. The only sin Raila has committed to his rivals is to bring justice and democracy to the people of Kenya” Walukhe said

Local leaders from Trans-nzoia and West Pokot Counties had called on the government to address the poor infrastructure and the perennial conflict between the Pokots and Turkanas , which Mr. Odinga responded emphasized the government’s commitment to construct the Kapenguria-Juba road to open up avenues for investment and employment in the region. On the conflict he said that a commission will be formed to unearth the root cause of the ethnic animosity in the region.

The Prime Minister began his whirl wind tour around the country on Monday. On Sunday he will address a politically rally at Tononoka Stadium in Mombasa.