Statehouse has asked Kenyans to be patient with President William Ruto saying he is making every effort to put the country’s economy back on track.
The President’s spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed, insists that Ruto had a herculean task. He said the economy had been messed up by the previous government. Ruto had to revive it. He said poor management of public funds, especially during the time former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga closed ranks, almost brought the country to its knees.
“Looking at the figures, the tax-to-GDP ratio worsened in the POST-HANDSHAKE period, dropping to 14% by 2020,” he said in defense of the president
Mohamed asked Kenyans to have faith in the President. He assured them that the country’s economy would soon improve.
“President William Ruto is & will turn around our economy; we will live within our means as a country and free ourselves from the shackles of debt,” he said
Amid accusations that Ruto served as Uhuru’s deputy at the time the economy was allegedly grossly mismanaged, Mohamed argues that as the second in command, he couldn’t do much. He also maintained that measures put in place by the Kenya Kwanza administration were necessary to jumpstart the economy.
“President Mwai Kibaki was Vice President to President Moi. When entrusted with top leadership, he made bold decisions to correct the mistakes of the Moi regime and put Kenya on the right economic trajectory. Though initially unpopular, these decisions proved worthy in the long run,” the statehouse spokesperson said
Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale shares a similar view. he insists the task at Ruto’s hands is not easy. He too accuses the previous regime of bad leadership.
“President William Ruto’s government has been trapped by an indebted economy. This was as a result of public debts ramped up by uncontrolled borrowing by the previous leaderships against advice from Parliament and relevant committees (Budget and Finance), Controller of Budget, and the Auditor General,” said Duale in his X account.
The CS says “the President is committed to reduce both foreign and domestic borrowing by growing the tax revenue that was crippled for nearly a decade,”
